Lone Wolf
by Drag'lan 666
Summary: Two unlikely souls, one cold and violent, and another caring and protective, are mashed together by the events of the past. How can such a pair work together? They must, if both are to survive, for ultimately, neither can live without the other.
1. Prologue

Just making this note, but I made my own race of people called the Regollen. They are effectively larger version of humans, only have different eye colors and hair colors. They effectively act like the samurai of Japan with their honor code, and are all but extinct. The main character, Drag'lan, is a Regollen Yautja hybrid, but the yautja is at least 7 generations in the past. Also, there will be crossovers in certain chapters. These were agreed upon by both me and the authors of the stories included in the crossovers.

Prologue: The Raising

Drag'lan didn't go through his life as if it were a cakewalk. His entire family (his father, mother, younger brother and 2 younger sisters) were attacked by Xenomorphs when they were vacationing on a planet that they thought was uninhabited when he was seven. Despite his father being trained in the Regollen art of Dreelorn, of the art of "Strategic pain Suffrage and Retribution", he was killed by 13 Xenomorphs after having killed 7 in hand-to-hand combat. The acid in the Xenomorph's blood had dissolved the armor his father wore and they brutally tore him limb from limb. After they murdered his family, Drag'lan was forced to flee for his life into the forest.

After running for what seemed like hours, he hid under a tree, hoping not to be found by the Xenomorphs. One found him, but before they could kill him, it was blown up by something that Drag'lan couldn't see. After the lifeless body of the Xenomorph fell, Drag'lan saw his saviors: 10 people donned in armor carrying guns that Drag'lan had never seen before. one of them spotted him and tried to get close to the tree, but one of the others said "I've got more readings on the Motion Tracker." They both backed up and readied their guns.

The other twelve Xenomorphs came out and the Marines mowed them down because 4 of them were carrying what looked like chain-guns, but they tracked the Xenomorphs as they crawled on the trees. Once the 12 Xenomorphs were killed, the same one approached and said "It's okay, little guy. You can come out. Nothing will hurt you." The man reached out his hand. Drag'lan was hesitant to take it, but thought better of it. The 10 men then led them back to their base and talked to their Commanding Officer about letting him live with them. The Commanding Officer was suspicious at first, but when they said that 13 Xenomorphs had followed him, the guy just said "yes".

Over the next 6 years, the USCMC made Drag'lan the best they could. One training mission Drag'lan went out on 2 years after they had taken him in brought him to the place where his family had been killed. When he saw this place, he noticed that there were 4 plain swords on the ground, 2 short-swords and 2 great-swords. Feeling as if they had been there waiting for him, he picked them up and look at them. Once he picked them up, they glowed a bright blue. When the blue faded out, there were symbols Drag'lan recognized. On the short-sword built for the left hand, the runes read "Strength, Endurance, Haste, Perseverance, Accuracy, Steadfastness" with one rune on the hilt meaning "Strengths of the body", the sword built for the right hand read "Humility, Purity, Innocence, Mercy, Love, Honesty" with a rune on the hilt meaning "Strengths of the soul". He set the swords down and looked at the Great-swords. One of the great-swords said "Hatred, Disease, Greed, Feebleness, Corruption, Pride" with two runes on the hilt saying "Weaknesses of the body and soul" while the other said "He who fights with honor holds the battle entire" and had 2 runes on the hilt meaning "Unity and Family.

While Drag'lan didn't understand this, he looked down and saw something that he hadn't noticed before as it had been covered by the swords. He saw a battle harness that that he had seen his father wear when he went out to fight. As he looked over the harness, he noted that there were two large crossed sheaths, obviously for the great-swords on the back part, and there were 2 smaller sheaths where his hips would be if he wore it for the 2 short-swords. When he slipped it on, Drag'lan saw that the harness was loose on his body, but figured he'd grow into it. He put the blades in their sheaths and continued his training run before heading back to the base.

When he got back to the squad that had taken him in, they were somewhat surprised at his attire, but not fully. One of them asked, "Where did you find that stuff, Drag?" Drag was the name the group had given Drag'lan.

Drag'lan said "Out in the forest."

One of the other soldiers said "Then why did you pick them up?"

Drag'lan said "It looked like they were left out for me to pick up."

The same soldier said "And how did you know that?'

Drag'lan shrugged and said "I didn't i just...felt it to be true."

The leader of the squad said "Drag, come here."

When Drag'lan got near him, he pulled Drag'lan aside and said "Drag, I've known some fucking dumb people in my life, but none were dumb enough to go out and grab weapons that were just laying on the ground. You know that this planet has been hunted on by the Preds. What if those weapons had been a damn trap?"

Drag'lan shrugged again and said "I guess luck was on my side at that point, Lt. Davis."

Davis just gave Drag'lan a look that said "Yea, REALLY fucking lucky" before leading him back to the group and saying "Alright, people, Lights-out in 15. Stow your gear."

Everyone walked to their lockers, but Drag'lan walked to his crate. When he popped it open, Davis said "Drag'lan, come here. I need to show you something."

Drag'lan walked over to him and they walked to a locker at the far end of the room where the new people to the squad normally stowed their gear. When they stopped at the locker, Drag'lan saw something that took his breath away; his name had been engraved on the plate where the names were supposed to be.

Drag'lan said "Really, sir? I'm gonna join you guys?"

Davis said "Yep. Command just gave the green light to train you, but check the inside of the locker before anything else."

When Drag'lan opened the locker, he was confused. There was a place specifically designed to hold his harness and other things to hold his swords. He turned to Davis and said "What are those things in there for?"

Davis looked at him and said "I knew this day would come sooner or later. It's time you knew the truth. Come with me and we'll talk." Drag'lan followed him.

Davis said "When you were about the age of 2, and I mean by looks, your father ran into us when we were preparing for an operation. He was damn lucky he didn't get fucking shot. When he got near us, he asked for a favor of us. He told us he had seen that he was going to die in a few years, and since he also saw that your family would be killed too, that he wanted us to take care of you. We were very apprehensive, if that's the term for it, about this whole _deal_, but when he unhooked his harness and set it down, swords included, on the ground to seal the deal, we knew he was being sincere. Why else would he leave his weapons on the ground?"

Drag'lan nodded, but stayed silent.

Davis continued and said "5 years later, we were moving out for a training mission when we saw the Xeno on the tree you were hiding in. Then Frank shot it with his Pulse Rifle till it died. Fred then tried to get near, but Miles said that she had more readings on the motion tracker. We cleared out the area and took you in, just like we had promised in the deal. And now, today, we gave back to you what was rightfully yours. I hope your father was right in his hope that you would use these weapons with dignity and honor."

And with that, Davis walked to his locker and stowed his gear. Drag'lan just stood there, in somewhat shock. He then shook himself out of it. He then unhooked the harness, and stored it along with the swords and his main uniform in the locker. He then shut the locker and went and climbed into his bunk. he mulled the thoughts over in his mind. Then tears started to form and he silently wept over what Davis had said. The others saw this and gave him his space. When Lights-out came around, Drag'lan was out, having cried himself to sleep.

Four years later, the training he was in was nearly over. he just needed to pass this test and he would be part of the USCMC. He just stood there with his M41A Pulse Rifle and waited for the judge to provide him with a clip. When the judge passed by him, he gave him a clip. Oh crap, the judge thought, we got the guy that Omega squad had found. He just kept walking though.

Drag'lan made sure to check the clip over and looked at the ammo count. It was a full clip, so he loaded it, turned to face the firing line and waited for the signal to fire to be given.

When the signal was given, Drag'lan readied the Pulse Rifle and fired in short controlled bursts. When the clip ran empty, he just lowered the gun, popped the clip out and waited for his scores to be given.

The judge looked at the statistics and said "Drag'lan Hellanille. Accuracy: 89%, Hits: 88/99, Acceptance: APPROVED. Welcome to the USCMC."

Drag'lan did a small cheer in his mind, set the Pulse Rifle down with the clip and walked back to Davis' barracks to tell him the good news.

Davis was glad to hear it and said "Great job, Drag. Now you can train to join our squad."

Two years later, Drag'lan lost the closest thing he had to family. He was with Davis' squad going through the forest in search of the Dropship they would take back to base, as they had been dropped with live ammunition in the jungle and were tasked to find a spot about 100km from the drop spot. Drag'lan was ready with the custom helmet he had. This bad boy had a built-in motion tracker and was able to become a sealed environment, filtering air in from the outside and recycling oxygen if needed. He was wearing the harness his father had left him and the swords were in their proper places. He was starting to fit perfectly into it, but nobody was surprised at this. They had figured he had his father's build. The squad was moving out, and while readings on the Motion Trackers were common, there were some loud ones, sometimes for minutes at a time. They stopped to rest for the night, and the loud readings on the motion trackers died out, as if whatever was causing them was backing off. This unnerved them, but they didn't show it. Once dawn came, they all grabbed their gear and kept heading to the point where they were supposed to find the Dropship. Drag'lan noticed that the readings picked up again as they they arrived at the point, they saw the Dropship, but what they found inside was disconcerting: the pilot, copilot and the 2 other marines on the ship were missing. Blood was left in streaks in the Dropship's hold and also in the cockpit, but no bodies were found. Miles said, "I've got READINGS!", and Drag'lan left the Dropship and looked at the Motion Tracker in his helmet. He saw that Miles was right; there were 5 large blips on his motion tracker nearing their position. Everyone took a defensive position, with the 4 smart-gunners Greg, Chris, George, and John, pointing in four different directions, but in over-lapping fields of fire. Then, all of a sudden, one of the reading on the Motion Tracker stopped completely. Drag'lan was suspicious of this, so he decided to look up in the direction of the reading. Right as his head came above the cover he was at, Davis pulled him back down, saying "STAY LOW, DUMB ASS! There's fucking Preds out there!" Not a moment after he said that, something impaled the hull of the Dropship and an extended spear phased into sight RIGHT where Drag'lan's head had been a few seconds earlier.

George and John converged fire on the trees in that direction, but a Predator came from nowhere and stabbed it's Wrist-blades into John's back, lifting him about 4 feet off the ground. Apparently, it had been staying still on the ship when it decided to strike. Upon seeing this, Drag'lan unleashed a large burst of fire at it, but he barely hit it. The training only provided for when you weren't having an Adrenaline rush. Only three out of the 15 rounds he fired hit it, but they were all non-lethal hits. It looked at him, reactivated it's camouflage and disappeared. The sniper, McKenzie, started firing into the trees with his custom Sniper Rifle, and he apparently hit something because a roar was released for where he was shooting. However, from where he was standing, McKenzie didn't notice the Predator walking up to him from his side. Miles yelled at him "MCKENZIE, WATCH OUT!" and McKenzie turned to his left just as the predator impaled him with it's spear.

Miles started to run towards the predator with her shotgun ready and preparing to fire a double blast, but a Predator's Smart Disc saw that it wouldn't happen. It sliced off her entire Left Forearm and her Right hand. As it returned, it slashed across her midsection, spilling her intestines. She fell immediately after that. After she went down, the Medic, Fred, tried to get to her, but a Predator shot him in the head with his Plasmacaster. The remaining Soldiers started to converge on the predator that took out McKenzie, but one of the other 4 predators took out Davis by cutting him in half with one of the discs. When Drag'lan saw the one that had thrown the disc, he dropped his Pulse Rifle, pulled out the 2 short-swords he had in his harness, and charged his target. What he got though, was kicked so hard in his abdomen that he got sent flying into the side of the Dropship. When he hit the ground, and he hit it hard, he watched as the remaining five people of his squad get executed. The lead predator was the one that had kicked him and had all the five kneeling, with his five lackeys holding them down. He said "They're not the ones with the man named Alaric. Time to finish the job we started."

Drag'lan put his swords away before struggling to get up. He couldn't, as something was wrong with his back, so he was forced to watch as the Predator took out one of its Smartdiscs, primed it and threw it at the line in such a way that they were all be-headed. Drag'lan then fell back to the ground and watched as the leader approached him. It knelt beside him, popped open the face-cover of his helmet and said, after seeing his hair structure, "As for you, we'll leave **you** to the Khainde Amedha. Let's hope they put you through hell, **Half-Breed**." That last word held so much disdain for Drag'lan. He tried to reach for one of his claymores, but the lead Predator saw this and grabbed his arm. It said "No you don't." before delivering a blow to Drag'lan's head that was hard enough to knock him out cold.


	2. Chapter 1

What drives people to act the way they do? Is it how they were raised, how their mind works, or how their pasts played out? This question is the one that plagues the minds of all that think of them. Although many might disagree, it can't be overlooked that every person sees tragedy in their life. It is unavoidable.

This is true for Drag'lan, who might just be the last surviving member of his race, the Regollen. Having been raised by both true family and a foster family (of sorts), he has seen tragedy in the most traumatic eyes ever possible. His true family was killed before his eyes, and his foster family went the same way. He lost it all, and that left its mark. His heart was sealed for what he thought to be forever, but all doors are meant to be opened...

Chapter 1-The Awakening

Drag'lan phased into consciousness and opened his eyes. What met his eyes was the thing that he feared most: he was in a Xenomorph hive, with an unopened egg in front of him. He looked to his right and saw that his wrists were trapped by the same hive material covering his legs and waist. As he struggled to break the bonds, he saw the egg open and the Facehugger start to crawl out. that sight gave him such an adrenaline rush that he broke his right wrist out and drew his shotgun. This gun was one of his 2 special side-arms. He blasted the egg back to hell, where it belonged. After he blasted the egg, he noticed that the Facehugger was still alive, and blasted it as well.

After he heard the thing die, he holstered the shotgun, drew one of his Short-swords and set to work cutting his wrist free. Once that was done, he set to work on his legs. He freed both legs in a matter of swings with the blade, each one cutting through the material like sharp scissors through paper. Once he was free, he noticed that with his claymores in the harness, he couldn't get down to the floor. Annoyed at this turn of events, Drag'lan sheathed his short-sword and unlatched his harness. He slid out of it and onto the floor.

When he hit the ground, Drag'lan fell to one knee and looked down. He saw what had caused that to happen: a jagged piece of metal was jutting out of the outer part of his left thigh. It didn't hurt, but that's because he had such a high tolerance for pain. Drag'lan grabbed onto the piece of metal with his left hand and ripped it out without doing anything. His blood flowed out in pulsing rivulets of a fluorescent blue. He watched it for a bit before remembering what his mother and father had taught him about first aid. He took a small vial from a pouch on his fatigues. He popped the vial open and put a small amount onto the palm of his right hand and spread it over the wound evenly. Within seconds, with tingly sensations, the wound had been sanitized and sealed for it to heal safely. Satisfied that the wound wouldn't get infected, he stood up and turned to his harness.

Drag'lan just began trying to remove his Battle-Harness when he heard the characteristic screech of a Xenomorph. In the time span of about 1.5 seconds, he had unsheathed both of his short-swords and had whipped around, looking for the Xeno. A few seconds later, he heard growling coming from behind him. Drag'lan whipped around and brought his sword swinging down onto the Xeno's head. As the blade sliced clean through, some of the acid went spraying at his face. With the other sword, he used it to block the acid. He watched as the acid did its work on his blade, breaking it down. But, immediately after, the blade reformed itself. Drag'lan hadn't expected that to happen, but was happy that it had. It meant that his swords were immune to the Xenos' acid.

After the Xeno's body fell to the ground, he used the swords to move the Xeno a few feet away. After he did that, he went back to his Battle-Harness. With a few strong tugs, the harness came out. It came with some of the hive material on it, so David broke the stuff off. He re-latched it after he slipped it back on. After he had finished latching it, he felt somewhat relieved. As these blades and harness had been left to him by his father, he felt that if they were left behind, his father would be left behind with them. The idea of that happening was sickening.

Remembering what the trainer in the USCMC had said about observing your surroundings, Drag'lan looked around.

As he looked around, he remembered what the lead predator of the group that slaughtered his marine family had said. "As for you, we'll leave **you** to the Khainde Amedha. Let's hope they put you through hell, **Half-Breed**."

_Looks like he, if that was a he, made good on that statement, but only if by "Khaine Amedha", he meant Xenos,_ Drag'lan thought. _But, that's not important anymore. Time to get out of here._

Drag'lan walked through the hive and found that it was surprisingly empty. He closed and sealed his helmet. He then switched on his Motion Tracker through a voice command. There was slight motion all around him, but the place was so full of condensation that it wasn't surprising in the least. He kept moving, making sure to cover his back and sides as well as his front. He heard some screams in the distance, but paid them no mind.

_Most likely recent victims of the Facehuggers,_ he thought. _Poor bastards, but I gotta watch my own ass right now. Can't go getting killed because of somebody else._

As he neared a hall, he heard low, but loud roars emanating from it. He didn't know what made him do this, but he followed the source of the noise. As he went through the hall, he heard more screeches from more Xenos followed by even more roars. Then there was a hiss of what he could only assume was triumph and a roar of defeat. He then started registering 3 large blips moving down the hall towards him. He activated his flashlight and looked down the hall. He say 3 Xenos were moving rapidly towards him on the ceiling. Knowing that there wouldn't be room for either of his 2 claymores to be swung left and right, Drag'lan drew one of his short-swords and kept walking down the hall.

"Alright, you fucking bastards. LET'S DANCE!" he yelled.

He was ready when the three Xenomorphs were bearing down on him. With an almighty roar that he never thought he could release, he charged down the hall, swinging his sword in wide swipes, cutting one Xeno cleanly in half. The other two utilized their speed and dashed between the swings, ending up behind him. One leaped to the ground and readied to leap directly at him while the other whipped around and dashed back. The one that leaped to the ground jumped at Drag'lan, aiming for his neck. Drag'lan spun to his left. As he did so, he used the momentum from the spin to make the swing the short-sword more powerful. The sword connected at its legs and cut them off at the knee. He heard the other one scream and start to run at him and spun around, impaling the Xeno on his short-sword. It tried to claw at him, but he shoved it off. He turned around and saw that the now leg-less Xeno was moving, trying to get away.

As the remaining Xeno tried to crawl away from him, Drag'lan walked towards it. Once he got next to it, he held the sword in his right hand in an upside-down grip and brought it straight down, stabbing into the Xeno's skull. The head just twitched as the blade went home. Drag'lan twisted it for good measure before removing it. He watched his blade reform after breaking down again. It was still a confusing sight to see, as the blade started to break down, but nearly as fast as the break-down began, the blade reformed. Drag'lan shook off the feeling. He had sliced many Xenos up with his blades, but hadn't watched the blade, as they normally kept coming.

Drag'lan continued walking down the hall as he had started. When he exited the the hall, he entered a room that was much bigger than the one he had been placed in. He was also met with a stupefying sight. Xenos corpses littered the floors, but that wasn't what he noticed. He noticed that there was a Predator trapped in the hive just like he had been.

Now, normally, he would've just left and been done with it. However, when he noticed the egg in front of it, and knowing the killing skills of both species, he didn't want the Predator to become a host of a Xeno. He pulled out his other side-arm: the 50-cal pistol he used with Thermite-tipped, High-Explosive rounds. He aimed carefully at the egg and fired. When he had fired the gun before, the thermite ignited and made the bullet look like a gold beam that was emitted from the gun. This time was no different. When the round hit the egg, the entire egg blew up, making a VERY acidic mess. He made sure to look for the facehugger before looking up. He looked at the Predator and saw that it was looking right back at him as well. He turned his back to it and started to walk away when he heard it speak to him.

It had said, in pretty good English "Thank you for saving me, but could you please get me down?"

Those words, just the way that it was said, caused Drag'lan to stop in his tracks and made him feel as if he had been used. That, in turn caused his eyes to slowly start turning black. However, The thing that ended the change, was his knowledge of Xeno actions. He knew that if that egg didn't succeed, another egg would. So, he turned back, looked at the Predator, and said "Why do you trust that I'm not an enemy?"

The Predator just looked at him and said "I trust this because if you wanted to kill me, I would already be dead."

Drag'lan smiled in his helmet at this. He decided to show some respect to it and popped the seal on his helmet faceplate. The faceplate swung up. He said "Nice. Good to know you can use logic, but..." As he said this, he walked up to the Predator and pointed his pistol at its head. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you."

The Predator laughed briefly and shook its head, then resumed it's stare at Drag'lan. It said "Because I can get you out of here in one piece."

_Well, that could be true_, Drag'lan thought, _But, then again, that could also be a lie._ Drag'lan said "How do I know I can trust you?"

The Predator just stared at him and said "Only one way to find out, and would I betray the person that freed me and saved my life?"

Drag'lan said "I don't know, but hell, dieing from your weapons would be much more preferable to being the victim of a Xeno." He lowered his pistol.

_Fish in a barrel,_ the predator thought, _This ooman is __easy__ to read_

Drag'lan holstered his pistol and drew his left short-sword. He readied the sword and said "You might wanna brace for the fall you'll receive after I cut through the material"

He then swung at the material binding the predator's left wrist and cut straight through it again. He then targeted the legs and waist, followed closely by the right wrist. The predator fell to the ground and stood up. Drag'lan saw that it was just barely 6ft 10in. The predators that had attacked his group had been easily 7ft 3in to 7ft 7in. However, he had never noticed the build of the predator. The armor was around a slimmer body than the others he had seen, and the chest-piece was more pronounced. Because of the mask, he didn't know what gender the predator was before freeing it, but after seeing this, he knew he had just rescued a female.

_Oh crap _Drag'lan thought, _This can't end well..._

The Predator looked at him, sizing him up. By her estimates, he was about 6ft 6in, maybe 6ft 7in tall. However, what she, like everyone else he met, stared at were the first thing the tended to notice: his eyes. She still had her mask on, but the way her head was tilted to the side showed confusion.

Drag'lan broke the staring contest and said "You done staring at what everyone else does?" before turning around.

The predator shook her head and said "I'm sorry. I've just never seen a ooman with eyes like yours before; They're black. How is that possible?"

Drag'lan shook his head and said "That's because I'm not human. I'm a Regollen." before closing and sealing his helmet again.

The Predator looked at him in confusion and asked "What's a Re-goll-en?"

Drag'lan said "That's something for a different time. Let's just get the hell out of here."

Drag'lan heard his motion tracker start beeping. Something was getting closer to them.

_Fuck me_, he thought. _We need to get moving if we're to get the fuck out of here alive._

Drag'lan said "We need to get moving if we're going to be able to get off this rock alive,"

The predator looked at him one last time before saying "Fine. Follow me, but make sure to keep up."

Drag'lan laughed at this. He said "If anything, _you _might need to keep up with _me_."

She said "Let's go then." before she went running through the hive.

_Well, she's got heart in her, and has a feisty personality to boot, _Drag'lan thought as he went running after her _But...something doesn't feel right about her._

They were both pretty evenly matched for speed, but Drag'lan put in bursts of speed to catch up to her.

The predator looked at him and smirked behind her mask. _This guy can keep up with me. That's new.., _she thought, _Few Yautja can keep up with me when I'm running like this. _She turned back to facing the way she was running and found a wall with 2 different openings about 20 meters in front of her.

Crap..., she thought, Time to break out the map.

She stopped about 10 feet from the wall and Drag'lan did the same. She opened her left wrist-bracer's computer and activated her ship's onboard map system of the hive she was in. As she had hunted in this hive before, she knew her ship's computer could tell her the shortest route to take to get back to it.

She read the shortest route and said to Drag'lan "Ok. We've got to take a left here, go down about 100 meters, take a right, head up a ton of ramps, go up through the mining tunnel, out into the jungle and then on to my ship."

_Sounds simple, but she has another plan, I just know it,_ Drag'lan thought. _But, I might as well go with it if it gets me off this damn hellhole of a planet._

He said "Okay, let's get goin'. The sooner we're off this rock, the better."

The Predator turned, said "Let's do this." and started running again. Drag'lan waited to make sure the motion tracker was clean before following. Her mind wandered to how he acted.

_I don't know why, but for some reason, this person stays his hand from killing me_, the Predator thought. _He could easily take me out, but why does he not? He shows disdain for my race's life, but he also shows respect for it...What is the deal with him?_

Their dashes weren't halted at all. Apparently, there weren't many, if any, Xenos left in the hive.

_This is weird_, Drag'lan thought. _Why aren't there any more Xenos?_

The next thing he knew, he was staring into the sunlight. The sudden change from the darkness of the hive blinded him for a bit until his visor adjusted for the change. His eyes stung for a bit, but it wasn't anywhere near as bad as he thought it would be. He could still see his "partner" about 20 feet ahead, so he sped up a bit to catch up.

_Damn...how long was I down there? _Drag'lan thought.

He kept moving, but when he looked up, he saw that the sun was setting. Knowing that there was no way to keep moving in the night like this, as he didn't have Night-vision gear, he called to his partner, saying "Hey, we need to stop. I can't see in the dark. We'll have to make camp."

_Son of a bitch _The predator thought, _This guy is more trouble than he's worth...Doesn't have Night-vision gear on him...what kind of person does that?_

She turned around and walked back to him and said "Fine. We'll make camp here, but you'll be standing watch for the night. I'm tired as hell."

_Heh...bullshit _Drag'lan thought. _But hey, I've been up for longer amounts of hours..._

He said "Fine, I don't care if you or I stand guard, so long as someone does."

His partner found a large tree, built a fire pit using the Plasma Caster she had equipped while Drag'lan gathered wood for it. When the fire was built, she lit it with a less charged Plasma Caster shot. After she did that, Drag'lan sat leaning on the tree, leaving his motion tracker on in his helmet while she tried to choose the spot to rest at. In the end, she decided on leaning against his right shoulder.

_I knew it... _Drag'lan thought, _I just knew she had an alternate plan, but I didn't expect __this__._

He watched as she became comfortable, resting her head on his shoulder. Her breathing slowed down slightly as she fell asleep. Drag'lan didn't expect her to lean on him, but was glad she did. In his eyes, it kept her under his watch.

However, as he watched the fire and saw his new "partner" sleeping, he felt so much at peace that he dozed off himself. Little did he know that his sleep that night would be far from pleasant, just like most of his other sleeps.


	3. Chapter 2

Lone Wolf

Chapter 2: Escape

Drag'lan's Sleep that night was fitful. While he had had recurring nightmares of his past and the horrors of it, this dream….this dream was different.

_He was running for his life, unarmed, through the forest. A pack of Xenos were in hot pursuit behind him. As he was running, he saw a bright light in front of him. It was that bright light that drove him to run towards it. Just as he got near the light, one of the Xenos behind him leaped. As it got near him, h\a blue streak went past him and destroyed the Xeno. He watched as a figure came out of the light and started to fight the Xenos. After the Xenos were dead, the figure turned to Drag'lan. Drag'lan knew after looking at its armor that it was a high-ranking member of its race. It looked at him and said "Drag'lan, I know that you have lost much from the Yautja in the past, but it is time to put that behind you. You must put the hatred you feel towards them aside. The one traveling with you is the key. Soon, you will meet the man who, indirectly, caused your torment. Don't attack him for that reason. Remember this, because your future rests on how you decide to act when the event comes to pass."_

_The Figure then faded away. As it did so, so did the light, leaving Drag'lan in the darkness…_

Drag'lan woke up with a start. The sun was beginning to rise. He just laid his head back against the tree and thought about the dream.

_What it is trying to tell me?_ He thought _Could it have something to do with the predator I rescued from the hive yesterday?_

As he thought that over, he heard a slight purring sound. He looked down and smirked: The predator he had rescued had moved in her sleep. She was now laying across his lap, with her head resting on his left knee.

_Heh…looks like someone moves in their sleep._

He lifted her gently, making sure to note her weight. She was somewhat heavy, but with some leverage, he thought he could easily flip her. As he lifted her up, she began to squirm a bit.

_Well, might as well get this over as fast as possible. _Drag'lan thought.

He slid out from under her and lowered her to the ground just as gently as he had lifted her. He un-latched his harness and set it against the tree. He then began stretching. His joints popped a little.

_Aaaaaaaahhhh…that's better. _He thought.

He looked at the fire pit the predator had made last night. Naturally, it had gone out, and he wanted to clean off his blades, which were most likely covered in muck and dirt; this planet had a lot of ambient dust, dirt and muck floating around. He also wanted to temper his combat knife.

He set off for more firewood, carrying one of his claymores and his combat knife. He took his claymore for chopping the wood due to the thickness of the wood, as well as defense, but his knife was for pure defense. He had seen what happened to those without knives and didn't want to suffer the same fate. This planet had a knack of producing assassin-prone predator animals. After about 10 minutes of walking, he found a tree sapling that would do nicely for firewood. He brought out his claymore from the sheath he had removed from his harness and attached to his shirt. With a few well-aimed strikes at the trunk, the sapling was brought down. With his combat knife, he hacked off some of the smaller branches for kindling. He then sheathed the knife and started chopping with his claymore. He chopped the wood into logs about 1.5 feet long. When that was done, he sheathed his claymore and picked up a few logs to take back to "Camp".

It took him 3 trips to get all the wood back to the camp, and the trip was un-eventful. After he had finished, he saw that his partner was still out.

_She sleeps like a rock,_ he thought.

He put his claymore sheath back on his harness and took out the claymores and short-swords, which he set next to the fire pit. He then set up a few logs in the fire pit and put some kindling underneath it. He then brought out a box and took out a lighter from it. With the lighter, he lit the kindling and watched over the fire as it started. He added logs every now and then to increase the size. Once the fire was at a healthy size, he stuck his short-swords into the fire to clean off for about 3 seconds before taking them out. He felt them vibrate in his hand when he had stuck it in the fire. It creeped him out, but not too much. Might have been his own hand for all he knew. The same thing happened with his claymores. Now, that was what creeped him out the most. He then put his combat knife into fire. When it was red-hot, he pulled it out and poured water from his canteen over it. It really steamed after that. When it stopped, it was shimmering. He pulled out a box from his satchel and pulled out a stone from it.

One cool thing about this planet was that it had stones of unusual toughness and varying grinding capabilities. These stones were perfect for Whetstones, as they could withstand even a mono-molecular blade strike.

He started running the stone over the blade to sharpen it. His box had the 4 main types of whetstone-quality stones of the planet. He had chosen the one with the finest grain to sharpen his blade. The finest grain stones were the ones that could sharpen blades into a mono-molecular sharpness.

The predator slept soundly. She had been tired as it was, despite Drag'lan's thoughts yesterday. She went out like a light not soon after she had leaned against Drag'lan. Her dreams were pleasant as well. Since her family and clan had been wiped out, and she was an adopted by her current clan, she dreamed of seeing her adoptive mother, father and older and younger brothers. She had left home about 5 months ago and they always worried that she wouldn't return.

She didn't have a mate. That was because since she was shorter than the average female, she was overlooked as a potential mate. Why they did that, she'd never know, but in a way, she didn't care. She loved to hunt, and a mate would end that love. Hell, she already had a collection of trophies, which happened to be mostly Xeno skulls.

She felt very unsure about Drag'lan. Normally, around males, she was apprehensive and cautious. With Drag'lan, she didn't feel like that. She didn't know why, but she knew he was safe.

Her sleep was interrupted by warmth on her face. She woke up and opened her eyes, seeing a fire.

_What the...?_ she thought, _Is it still night?_

She looked around and saw the sun was up. She looked at the fire and saw that her partner was sitting by the fire, running a stone over the knife in his hand. He looked like he was in his own world. She got up and went next to the fire, sitting down before she addressed her partner.

She said "So. What happened last night?"

Drag'lan didn't look up at her as he spoke. He said "Not much. Thought I wouldn't know, as I fell asleep shortly after you had."

_Crap..._ The Predator thought, _We're lucky just to be alive..._

She looked at him and said "You fell ASLEEP? You were supposed to be on guard!"

Drag'lan stopped and looked up at her with a stern look in his eyes. He said "Okay, you leaned on my right shoulder, so there wouldn't have been much I could do with one hand."

He looked at the fire once before sheathing his knife and putting out the fire.

_Well, time to get moving again_ Drag'lan thought

He started to move towards his harness, but the predator got in his way and said "Wait. I'm not done with you yet."

_Yea, but __I'm__ done with __You_ He thought, but he said "I'd get out of my way if I were you."

She said "Oh REALLY? And what if I don't?"

_Here we go. Time to see if I was right about her weight and how well I sized her up_, Drag'lan thought.

He said "If you don't, I'll flip your sorry ass. **Trust me**, I can."

_He's bluffing_, the Predator thought, _nobody has been able to flip me in a LONG time._

She said, in Yautja "Bullshit. There is no way you can flip me."

_Too bad she doesn't know I can speak Pred language_, Drag'lan thought.

Drag'lan smirked and, much to her surprise, said "Okay. Looks like you need a demonstration." in Yautja.

_WHAT THE?_ the predator thought. _This one knows Yautja?_

She didn't have time for other thoughts, as Drag'lan grabbed her left leg, put his left hand against her abdomen and used it as leverage to flip her over his head. She landed on her back about a foot away from him.

Drag'lan turned to her and said "Told you so." before he grabbed and equipped his gear.

_Well...didn't expect THAT to happen_, she thought.

She picked herself up and said "Well done. You just did what nobody has been able to do in about 30 years."

_Heh, should've figured that she would have to find out the hard way_, Drag'lan thought.

He said "Now that THAT'S out of the way, you mind grabbing your gear? we need to get moving again."

_WOW...That's what he was going after. I feel like a real bitch after that course of actions..._ The predator thought.

She just said "Okay" and got her gear. Once they were set, they set off running again. Drag'lan kept up with her easily this time. His adrenaline was still pumping after he had flipped her.

_I have always had a knack for being able to size up people like that_, he thought with a smirk.

Now, the predator had other thoughts.

_Damn...the Regollen must be strong if he was able to flip me THAT easily..._

She looked around and saw that she was near the ship.

_Time to put my plan to action_, she thought.

She stopped abruptly, and Drag'lan did the same. He saw her looking around and walked up to her. He tapped her on the shoulder. She looked at him.

He said "What's wrong? you seem on edge."

She turned away from him and said "I don't know, Something doesn't feel right..."

_Here comes another alterior motive..._ Draglan thought.

Now, to a point, Drag'lan was right, as the predator took a step forward, but whirled around and hit his helmet with enough force to knock him out cold, just like the leader of the predators that had wiped out his Marine family had done before he had ended up in the hive.

The predator walked up to him and chuckled behind her mask.

_Too easy_, she thought.

She turned away to walk to her ship, but she stopped after a few paces and turned back. In her heart, she didn't have it in her to leave him lying there to die. Not after what he had done, and under the circumstances he freed her.

_Damn it, _she thought. _I can't just leave him here. I'm not sure if he would be okay in the clan, though. Talk about having a conundrum...After what he did to me, I THINK he'll be okay with the clan, but will the elders allow it? Well, either way, I might as well take him aboard the ship. There are too many predators on this planet._

She hefted him up over her shoulder and carried him onto her ship. She went into the bedroom, took out his 4 swords that she saw in the harness-like thing he wore. She then took out the knife he had on one of the bands connected to the latch. It was a complex thing to work, as the sheath was curved. She got it out in the end, but the blade itself slid over her hand, making a thin slash through her skin. She yelped as her skin was cut, and dropped the knife. Her blood was on the blade where it had cut her, and her hand was somewhat bleeding. She wrapped it up in cloth from her medical kit and set the blades on the workbench in her bedroom. The large blades were much to big to sit on the workbench, so she set them against the wall.

She then turned her attention to the harness Drag'lan wore. No matter what she tried to undo the latch, it wouldn't come undone.

"Oh, PAUK this!" She said, "I might as well just leave the damn thing on him. I need to get the ship headed back home and clean out this wound anyway."

So, she left it on. She left the bedroom and headed to the cockpit. There, she set the navigation to send her back home, to Lai'Kairis. The ship took off, and she went to the restroom to clean the cut she had sustained.

While he was out, Drag'lan had another dream, just like the one he had had last night...

_He was fighting wave after wave of Xenomorph. The bodies of the dead littered the ground, but they were relentless in their assault. Drag'lan felt the fatigue set in as he kept swining his blade. The blade was seeming to get slower after each swing. As it began to stop, the same figure that had shown up in the previous dream showed up and started fighting the Xenomorphs as well. After a few kills, the Xenos disappeared. The figure turned to Drag'lan and said, in the same voice "Drag'lan I have seen your actions. Althought they show honor and courage as well as compassion, they lack purpose. Remember what your father taught you about actions taken without purpose. They are actions not worth taking. You may not know me, but take heed of the messages i leave. They will show their meaning as time passes"_

_The figure faded out again. As it did, a Xeno snuck up behind Drag'lan and stabbed its tail through his heart..._


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Knowing thy Partner

Drag'lan came back to consciousness on a ship, but he didn't know that. His eyes were still shut, but he felt that he was in a bed.

_Great_, he thought, _The corps found me._

He opened his eyes and saw that he might be right. He was on a ship, but didn't know if it was human or something else. He felt a tingle on his forehead. So, he reached a hand up and felt his head gingerly. His left side of his forehead was swelling slightly. Although it felt tender, he didn't feel pain.

_Where the hell am I?_ he thought, _And who the hell is that person in my dreams?_

He tried to recall the figure in his dreams. However, the figure became increasingly blurred with every passing minute.

_Well, I might as well get up and look around, _he thought, and sat up.

He looked around. The room was somewhat bright, but that was from him being out for so long. He saw the bed he was laying in, a small wardrobe, a desk, and a workbench. He focused on the workbench for a bit and saw that his helmet was on it. Beside it were 3 blades, which could only be his combat knife and short-swords. He saw his claymores on the wall beside the workbench. He was surprised that his captor had removed his swords. He moved to the edge of the bed and reached to his neck, feeling for his dog-tags. He then felt his chest and found a metal latch. The metal latch is what relieved him most. His harness was still on, and it was what gave him the edge in combat, as well as being a gift from his father, so he didn't want to lose it.

_At least whoever picked me up didn't know how to work Regollen lock systems_, he thought with a chuckle.

He got up and walked to the workbench. He looked at his short-swords and picked them up. They vibrated as they had when he had stuck him in the fire. It was odd, but Drag'lan didn't really care, as they were back in his possession. He then shifted his gaze to his combat knife and spotted a streak of faded green on it. As he knew he hadn't cut anything since he had tempered and sharpened it, it had to be the blood of whoever grabbed him.

He picked it up and sat down at the edge of the bed again. He pulled a ball of what looked like metal shavings from a small bag on his belt and started rubbing the ball over the blade. Within seconds, the blade was cleaned of the blood. Drag'lan stood up, sheathed the blade and was walking back to the workbench to put his helmet on when he heard something open behind him. He whipped around and saw that the predator he had rescued from the hive walking in. She was looking at her wrist bracer and didn't notice him, but after she entered, she looked up and saw him. She froze for a few seconds.

Drag'lan, in a period of about 4 seconds, had her pinned to the wall, his left arm against her neck, applying pressure to make breathing difficult, and had his right arm grabbing her left arm and had that pinned to the wall.

His eyes were Half-black at this point and he said, contempt lacing every word, "YOU! I saved your life, and THIS is how you repay me? Knocking me out?"

_Oh crap,_ the predator thought, _He recovers fast. A normal Yautja would've been knocked out for at least 3 more hours with the force I put into that punch._

She struggled for breathe, but said "Hey, I could've left you on that planet for the animals to feed on. Count your blessings."

Drag'lan kept his arm where it was and said "Well, why did you knock me out in the first place?" and increased the pressure.

_It's time for answers... _he thought.

Her right arm went to his left arm and tried to push it away, but he was too strong. She said "Okay, so I planned on leaving you there but chose not to. You would've died if I hadn't picked you up and carried you in here. Now, if you don't mind, could you please release me? I can't breathe."

_Well, I might as well keep her alive. I can't pilot this ship._He thought.

He removed his arm from her neck, let go of her arm and stepped back. She massaged her neck for a bit and said "Thanks. Sorry about your head. Does it hurt at all?"

Drag'lan shrugged and shook his head. "Nope. I don't feel pain too much anymore. Something I inherited from my father."

_That may be the reason why he acts the way he does. I might wanna show some kindness if I'm going to get anywhere with him._ She thought.

"What was your father like? From what you've shown, he's taught you a lot of things."

Drag'lan looked at her and said "My father was a great man. He taught me how to fight with courage, respect, and honor. On that note, give me a bit."

With that, he closed his eyes and spoke in a language that the predator partly understood. When he finished speaking, he touched his heart and bowed. He opened his eyes.

"Sorry about that. I needed to apologize to my ancestors for my actions." He said  
>The predator cocked her head to the side in confusion. "What was that language you spoke in? It sounded like Yautja. And what did you say?"<p>

Drag'lan smiled and said "Of course it would sound like Pred language, as it is a mix of Yautja and Regollen. I said 'Spirits of ancestors past, forgive my acts of dishonor' because I attacked without warning and without honor. I needed forgiveness from them to keep their strength."

She kept her head cocked to the side as he spoke. The Yautja did pretty much the same thing, just in a different way.

_These Regollen sound a lot like us Yautja...Could they be related to us?_ she thought. _I need to learn more_.

"Why do you honor your ancestors as you do?" She asked him.

He replied by saying "I honor my ancestors because it is them who give me my strength. If I don't, the strength they give me will be taken away."

She looked at him and said "I see. You honor your ancestors as we Yautja do. I respect that, but I do have a few questions that I must ask."

Drag'lan just looked at her. This was the first time she had shown any tenderness towards him.

_Sudden change of heart_, he thought, _Something isn't right_.

He said "Go ahead. Ask."

She said "What is your name? From what I've noticed, you don't have a home, and since we're headed to my home planet, I would like for you to join us. And by 'us' I mean my clan."

_Well. That was...interesting..._ Drag'lan thought.

He couldn't help but be astonished by the Predator's words. She hadn't shown anything neutral, much less kind, before. He felt compelled to return the favor. What was the harm in telling her his name, right?

He sighed and said "My name is Drag'lan Hellanille Sorell. Before you ask," he said as she bent forward as if to ask a question, "When translated, my name means 'Bringer of Death's Fiery Fury' in English. What's your name?"

_Let's see where this leads..._ he thought.

She said "Okay. Since you said your name, I might as well tell you mine. My name is Fral'Drylx. When translate, it means 'Raging Inferno'. Your first name sounds Yautjan. Why is that?"

Drag'lan shrugged and said "I don't know. My mother was the one that gave me that name."

Fral'Drylx looked at his eyes and saw some pain in them. Then she looked at his body structure and her gaze traveled to his hair. It was in spikes sticking straight up with a curve to his back. If they hang down, they would be about shoulder-length from her measurements.

_Okay, now THAT'S odd...he must be part Yautja._She thought.

Drag'lan took the time while she was looking him over to look her over too. Before, he hadn't payed too much attention to how she looked. She had Hazel-colored skin with dark green spots, not unlike a Lornashii. When he saw the mask, that was what intrigued him the most. It was covered in minor scratches. He couldn't help but wonder what her true face looked like under that mask.

_She seems sincere enough. However, that could be a ploy._ he thought. _After what she did to me on the planet, she's capable of anything._

He walked to the bed and sat down. He looked at the ground and closed his eyes. In his mind, he rolled thoughts and ideas over. After he thought for a minute, Fral'Drylx walked up to him, crouched to his level and placed a hand on his shoulder. He opened his eyes and looked at her.

She asked something that he knew would come up, but didn't suspect the way he'd react. She asked "What was your family like? From what you said about your father, your family probably kicked ass."

Drag'lan's body tensed up and his eyes started to grow black. In his mind, he saw the bodies of his mother, father and siblings dead in the forest.

Fral'Drylx saw this and knew she had hit a touchy subject. She released her grip on his shoulder, stood up and backed away.

She said "I'm sorry. I didn't know-"

"They were slaughtered by Xenomorphs when I was Seven. My father fought, but they didn't stop coming. They ripped him limb from limb. Then, my mother, my brother, and my two sisters followed him in death." He said, cutting her off.

_Damn...I didn't know that he had to endure that kind of trauma. I never saw my parents die...I just saw their bodies._ she thought.

Drag'lan's next words cut into her thoughts, saying "They're the reason that I carved this into my arm." Drag'lan pulled up his left sleeve and showed her his left arm. She inspected it and saw a peculiar pair of marks there.

_He did that HIMSELF? There is so much detail in it. He really sounds like a Yautja now...OOOWWW..._ she thought as she clutched her left hand. The knife that Drag'lan had carried had left a wound she had never seen before. The wound had stopped bleeding an hour ago, but the wound was still open.

Drag'lan noticed her clutching her hand and pulled out his knife. He looked from the knife to the wound. As he did so, the stain he had seen on the knife earlier flashed though his mind. He looked at her in shock.

"You cut your hand on the blade, didn't you?" he asked

She replied by saying "Yes. How sharp is that thing?"

Drag'lan shrugged and said "I don't know. I wasn't done sharpening it back on the planet, but apparently, it's sharp enough now. But here, this will help."

He pulled a vial out of the pouch on his right thigh and handed it to her. He said "Re-open the wound. Trust me,"; Fral'Drylx had given him a doubtful look, "It will help. Re-open the wound and apply a small amount of this stuff to it. It'll help it heal properly and reduce the scarring that will form."

Fral'Drylx looked at him as if he was crazy, but re-opened the wound and applied the stuff to it. It smelled really strong, but she felt better after it was spread over the wound.

"Thank you. That stuff, what is it?" she asked, after handing back the vial.

Drag'lan took it, held it up and said "No Problem. This is a sanitizing salve that seals the wound as it dries. It's also water-proof, meaning it doesn't wash off. I make the stuff myself. It's an old family recipe my mother taught me. Now, I'm just wondering, but how long was I out?"

Fral'Drylx shrugged and said "From my timers, it says about 7 hours. That's three hours earlier than others I've hit with the same amount of force."

Drag'lan chuckled and said "Yeah. I've always had a knack for recovering fast. Father could too, so I think it came from him as well."

_I need to see his abilities in combat,_ Fral'Drylx thought, but she looked at her hair and armor and saw all the grime in/on it. _But first, I need to clean up. I HATE hunting on that planet. Too much muck, dirt and dust is in the air._

She looked at Drag'lan and said "I don't know about you, but I'm gonna go take a bath. That planet had too much ambient junk."

Drag'lan nodded and said "I need to do that as well, but I'll wait for you to finish first. In the meantime, I'll clean off my armor."

Fral'Drylx said "Okay. I'll be back in a bit." as she walked to the closet and chose her outfit before leaving.

Drag'lan sat down and looked at his armor. His greaves were covered with the grime as well as his leggings. He bent down to undo the latches on his graves. He took them off and pulled out the same ball of metal shavings and got to work on the greaves. Even though it took the better part of an hour to clean off the grime, Drag'lan was happy. He started to set his greaves down when his hair started to itch. Even though his hair stood up like it did, it was covered in a grease paste that Drag'lan had made. Apparently, it had gotten too old and was now starting to break down into his scalp, causing it to itch. He scratched his head for a bit, and pulled his hand away with a light layer of paste stuck to it.

_Damn it,_he thought. _The paste I use on my spikes is breaking down. Now I'll have to wash the paste out and let my hair go down. I hate having my hair down. It gets in the way too often. Well, it is what it is._

He didn't wait long until Fral'Drylx walked back in. She wore a simple dress that covered her shoulders, chest, front of her legs and back, from the look of things, leaving her belly exposed. That dress blew Drag'lan's mind; He had expected her to wear more male-oriented clothing. Her face was what drew his sight though. Her eyes were a golden yellow and she had Hazel colored hair. Compared to her mask, her face looked peaceful. He noted a few scars on her face, but disregarded them, as she looked nice either way.

Fral'Drylx looked at him and said "The bathroom is open. Go down the hall and it will be the fifth door on your left."

Drag'lan nodded, said "Thanks," grabbed his greaves and walked out.

He walked down the hall and past an open room. It was filled with weapons and on the wall, there were skulls of various creatures, mostly Xenos. He spotted some human skulls, but kept moving to the room she had spoken about.

The bathroom was as modest as the bedroom had been. He saw that the bathtub was just a hollow in the floor of the room. He set his greaves against the wall, took off his harness and set it next to the greaves. He then took off his leggings, his shirt and his boxers, and put a towel next to the tub before lowering himself into it. He found the controls and quickly learned how to change the temperature of the water. Once he had it to his liking, he waited for it to reach his upper abdomen before turning to water off.

He washed his hair thoroughly and watched as the water became somewhat brown. His hair became sleek with the water and as he wrung it out, it formed the spikes he was well-known for in the USCMC as well as turned back to it's normal jet-black coloring; the paste made his hair a very dark shade of brown. After his hair was cleaned out, he started washing his body and face. As he did so, he felt the warmth of the water start to seep into his body. He sighed with relief; His muscles were as sore as ever, so he had needed the heat to relax them.

He closed his eyes and started to think of everything that had happened.

_Okay, you start out in a Xeno hive and end in a Pred's ship...big change. For all you know, Fral'Drylx, or whatever her true name is, could just kill you and mount your head on her wall._ he thought. _But then again, she did save you from that planet as you saved her from that hive, so she could be sincere about giving you a new place to live._

As his thoughts traveled from one point to another, he heard the door of the bathroom open. He turned around and opened his eyes. Fral'Drylx was standing in the room, looking at him.

She said "Sorry. I didn't know you weren't done washing. Would you like me to leave?"

_Yeah right_. Drag'lan thought. _I doubt that excuse very highly..._

He said "Nah. I'm finished as it so happens."

He grabbed the towel and lifted himself out of the tub, covering himself as he climbed out. He wrapped the towel around his waist and tied it at his hip. He grabbed his leggings and asked Fral'Drylx "Do you have a basin I can wash my leggings in by any chance?"

She nodded, filled a large bowl about the width of his shoulder span with hot water, and handed it to him. He set it down on the ground, sat down, slid his boxers and leggings to him, removed all the accessories on the leggings and started cleaning his leggings. He put the leggings into the water for a few seconds, then took them out and wrung them out. After doing that for a few times and a close inspection, he deemed that they were clean. He wrung them out very thoroughly and turned to Fral'Drylx and said "Fral'Drylx, do you mind if I call you Fral for short?"

Fral'Drylx nodded and said "I don't mind. If it helps you call me by name, go ahead."

Drag'lan said "Okay. Now, Fral, Do you have a drying room I can use?"

She gestured to a sliding door near the tub. He went to it carrying his leggings and boxers and entered it. He set the leggings and his boxers on the chairs before going to the controls. He tried the controls, but apparently was hitting the wrong buttons. He first felt a chilling blast of wind.

He said "Oh Groegno...wrong button." and tried another.

He felt the warm air come in and said "Much better."

He heard Fral giggle outside and said "Yea...Laugh it up, Fral...I don't understand most of these controls."

He checked his leggings and found that they dried rather fast. His hair hang loosely at his shoulders, and he himself was dry, so he put his boxers and leggings on. He then exited the drying room.

Fral'Drylx watched as he re-entered the bathroom. She saw that he had a large scar spanning his chest. She also saw that she was right in her measurements of his hair, but the color had changed. It was dark brown when she had taken off his helmet, but now it matched his eyes in color. In an odd way, she felt attracted to him. She started to pant ever so quietly.

_Whoa, now girl...calm yourself down._ she told herself.

When Drag'lan walked in, he saw that she had picked up his harness before dropping it when he had walked in,

Fral'Drylx said "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have touched your harness without permission."

Drag'lan shook his head and said "It's alright. You tried to get it off me when you put me in the bed didn't you?"

Fral'Drylx nodded "I couldn't work the latch on it, so I left it on you."

Drag'lan laughed a bit. He said "Well, it's simple really. Bring it here." and gestured for her to come to him. She obliged and brought him his harness. He popped the latch out of place using as small push together and a quick pull in opposite directions. She was amazed at how simple it was.

He saw the look on her face and smirked. He said "So...you wanna see how this baby works while in combat?"

She nodded and said "Yes, as much as I want to see your combat skills."

He said "Okay, I will meet in in your sparring room, which I assume is the one with your trophy wall."

She nodded and said "Let me go get my gear...my only rule is that you don't use your combat knife, for an obvious reason."

Drag'lan knew what that reason was, so he nodded and watched as she left. He put his shirt on as well as his harness and went to the sparring room and sat down cross-legged on the floor, waiting for his partner. He closed his eyes, and the visions came again...


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Brawling

Drag'lan's vision was non-violent for some reason. This was most likely because he was at peace at the time.

_The same figure from his earlier dreams approached Drag'lan. When he spoke, he spoke with a tome implying that he was impressed. He said "You have done well, Drag'lan. You looked like you were going to choke her to death."_

Drag'lan, for the first time in the visions, spoke. He said "Well, since I couldn't operate most Predator controls, i thought that i should keep her alive."

The figure gave a hollow laugh and said "Are you sure? Your mouth might say that, but your aura tells a different story. Either way, you have done well in your choices thus far. Keep it up, and I will tell you more the next time we meet."

With that, the figure faded into the darkness once again.

Drag'lan opened his eyes. He looked in confusion at the room he was in. Then it struck him. This was Fral'Drylx's sparring room.

_ Oh right...I was going to spar with Fral_ he thought.

He sat there a bit before deciding to meditate over what had happened.

_How long was I in that vision? It felt like 7 minutes,_ he thought, _And who is that? He knows me, but how am i going to get to know his name?_

As he started to go deeper into meditation, he became increasingly disassociated with the world around him.

A few minutes later, Fral'Drylx entered. She was in her armor, but had left her mask off. She looked at Drag'lan sitting on the ground cross-legged , with his eyes closed. She looked at this with a curious look.

_What is he doing?_ she thought, _It looks like he is meditating, but he doesn't strike me for the meditating type._

She cleared her throat, but he didn't respond. He looked like he wasn't even awake. She walked up to him and squatted. She then put her hand on his shoulder and shook him gently.

Drag'lan felt the motion and opened his eyes with a jerk. He looked at Fral and smiled. He got up and stretched, feeling some joints pop ever so slightly.

He looked at Fral'Drylx and said "How long were you there?"

Fral said "Just got here. You were meditating i take it?"

Drag'lan nodded and said "Yes. There is so much stuff going through my mind, so it helps for me to meditate to relieve the tension."

Fral looked at him and said "You look like you're tired. Are you sure you want to spar at this time?"

Drag'lan nodded and said "Yes. With me, combat always wakes me up more than sleep."

Fral'Drylx said "Okay. Before we start, are you going to be using your swords?"

Drag'lan shook his head and said "No. I've decided not to. They are far too dangerous to use in simple sparring."

Fral'Drylx looked at him with a curious expression and said "If that is your choice, I will honor it. We will use my Sparring Combi-staves in that case."

Drag'lan looked at her and said "Sparring Combi-staves?"

Fral'Drylx said "Extend-able staves that we Yautja use for sparring."

Drag'lan said "Very well, then. I'll put my harness down so that way I'm not tempted to use my swords."

Drag'lan disengaged the latch on his harness and put it next to his greaves, which were next to the door.

Fral watched him as he moved. She saw that something was wrong with him. She saw some confusion and pain in the actions he took. She didn't dare ask, however, as she was sure that it would anger him.

She went to her weapon rack and pulled off 2 rods of metal with blunt tapering ends, extended them to about 6 ft long and walked over to Drag'lan. She held out one of them, which he took. When Drag'lan grabbed the Combi-stave, he had a strange feeling. He felt as if he already knew how to expertly wield this weapon. He shook it off.

_That was weird..._ he thought, _This weapon feels like an old friend for some reason. Either way, time to focus on the task at hand._

He took his place at the other side of the sparring ring and took a defensive combat stance. He watched as she took her place across from him. He nodded to her, signaling that he was ready. However, in his mind, he was seeing the beginning of a "training" run his squad had gone through.

_Drag'lan sat on the ground, re-assembling his Pulse Rifle after cleaning it. Lt. Davis approached him. Drag'lan looked up at Davis, smiled and said "What's up, Lt.?"_

_Davis looked at Drag'lan and said "The squads on this planet enter large skirmish tournaments every year. There is a large money cache used as incentive to do well, and Command doesn't mind, as it is counted as training. This year, we want you to be on our 5-man team. This time around, Smart-Guns have been authorized, so we have a sniper, a shot-gunner, a Smart-Gunner, and me as an infantry, so we want you as the other infantry. Would be good practice for you."_

_Drag'lan, curious about this event, asked "So, we're going to be doing Live-fire skirmishes, sir?"_

_Davis laughed and said "Oh hell no, son. We're using Paintball guns. They're non-lethal, and Command wants live soldiers."_

_Drag'lan, relieved, laughed as well and said "Alright then. I'm in."_

Fral made the first move, bringing Drag'lan back to reality. She charged at him, raising her staff as she went.

_ So it begins, heh heh _Drag'lan thought.

He deftly side-stepped her charge and watched as she nearly hit the wall. She came at him again, this time swinging her staff from his upper right side.

_Okay, either she's feinting that blow or she's doing that on purpose..._Drag'lan thought as he raised his staff in defense.

It seems that Fral'drylx did that strike on purpose, but just to see his reflexes. To her, when he raised his staff to block her blow, it was a blur. Her staff bounced off of it with a clang, but Drag'lan didn't counter-attack.

Drag'lan watched as her attack bounced off the staff. He didn't counter it because he wanted to see what her next course of action would be.

Fral'Drylx followed that strike with a speed jab aimed at his chest, which he barely dodged. She then swung her staff in such a way that Drag'lan became disarmed.

Drag'lan was surprised that she had disarmed him, but he knew how to fight unarmed. He blocked her next strike using only his forearms, and he thought her heard a small crack, but thought it was from the staff. He threw himself after her, catching her by her midsection, taking her down to the ground. She attempted to flip him over, but he used the momentum in order to roll her off of him. He dove after his staff and picked it up. He picked up hers as well and threw it to her. He wouldn't break his Code of Honor without good reason.

Fral'Drylx was amazed at how he had blocked her strike with his forearms. _He must have had special training in order to be able to do something like that._she thought.

She was even more amazed at how he had reversed her grapple on him. He had used the momentum of their roll to get her off of him. She was concerned about the crack she had heard when her staff collided, but Drag'lan looked fine. She put the thoughts aside as she caught the staff he threw to her.

She flew at him again, this time spinning her staff in her hand as she went and made a wild strike at his ribs. Drag'lan blocked with the staff, but she had used a lot more force than he had expected, making him slide a few inches to his right. He then spun his staff, knocking hers back and while she had her arm up, he struck her wrist, making her drop the staff, which he knocked aside before tossing his away as well; His Code of Honor required that he only attack with what weapons his opponent does.

This time, Fral was the one to tackle him. Drag'lan was winded as she barreled into his chest. They went into the wall, and he used that brace to break her grip and knock her back.

_Very good..._ Drag'lan thought, _This is the best fight I've ever had. She's a lot tougher than I thought, but I'll be able to pin her if I can just get in a good position to tackle her again._

Fral was even more amazed at how he could reverse grabs.

_He has had training of some kind to remove holds. Otherwise, he would've been pinned to the wall, and I would've had the advantage..._she thought.

Drag'lan side-stepped around her, making sure to note her movements. When she charged him for a third time, Drag'lan spun to his right, kicking the back of her knee in after the spin. She fell to one knee and Drag'lan slipped an arm around her neck, applying pressure to restrict breathing, not choke her. She grabbed his arm and flipped him over her. Drag'lan landed on his back, with his head facing her, where she attempted to pin him. He rolled to his left to avoid it.

He came up to a crouch and tackled her time, he made sure that she couldn't attempt to flip him, pinning her to the ground.

He said "Do you yield?"

Fral knew she couldn't beat him in that position and said "Yes."

Drag'lan released his grip and said "Nice job. Few could hold out against me that long before yielding."

Fral laughed and said "I could say the same of you. What happened to your forearm when you blocked that blow I made?"

Drag'lan shrugged and said "I don't know, but I still feel fine. Might just be a crack in the bone, but it'll heal up really quick."

Fral'drylx said "Either way, I'll switch back into my other clothes. This armor is heavy for sparring."

Drag'lan nodded and re-latched his harness on. He was in the middle of putting his greaves back on when an alarm blared. Fral'Drylx was yelling something in predator that he didn't understand, but she yelled "Drag! We've got company! Get your weapons ready and follow me to the hatch!"

_Well, that couldn't have been better timing...back to fighting I guess_. He thought. He took off running towards the bedroom, as that was where Fral had been yelling from.

Fral'Drylx was in the bedroom when she heard the alarms go off. She ran straight to the cockpit and saw that her ship was going to be boarded. She pulled up a picture of her enemy's ship and saw that it looked almost exactly like hers, just...evil.

_ Bad Bloods..._ She thought with horror. _Why are they here? What could they possibly want...Drag'lan! They must be after him!_

She whipped around, and dashed to the trophy room. She needed to get her mask and gear on.


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Old and New Wounds

There was a Yautja in the cockpit of its ship, nearing another Yautja's. She read a Predator life signature when she scanned it, but also a different life signature popped up; It was similar to a Yautjan, but was more similar to an Ooman's.

_That Ooman sign must be my target, _she thought. _Like always, I have to finish what my coward brother started._

She shook her head. Her brother was a rather young Yautja, and ended up annoying her; Whenever he was sent on a mission, she was normally called in to finish the job. Apparently, he never killed his targets for whoever knows what reason.

She started to draw closer, readying the grappling claws on her ship as she did. She heard the door slide open behind her. She turned around and saw her mate there, scratching and shaking his head.

She said "Have a nice sleep? We're near our target. Get your gear and meet me by the hatch."

The male Yautja looked at her and said "Damn. We're that close already? That was the shortest trip I've ever been on in my life." As he turned around and walked out of the room.

_Why I ever chose that dumbass as my mate is beyond me._ she thought.

As soon as she was close enough, she drew alongside the target ship. Once she got within range, she activated the claws. The claws hit the target and embedded, then started retracting into the launcher's ship. When the ship was right next to hers, she extended the boarding tube. She grabbed her mask, donned it, and ran to the tube.

She arrived with her mate walking towards the hatch. He had his mask on and was wielding his Great-Axe, while she had the swords that her mother had passed down to her. They both nodded and started walking towards the other ship. When they got near the other hatch, it automatically popped open, revealing a person that looked like a human, standing next to another Yautja. The pair of them were already in battle stances. They looked at each other, and nodded. Then they both charged at the defenders, splitting them up, her mate taking on the Yautja, and her taking on the human.

5 minutes earlier…

Drag'lan had just entered the bedroom when Fral rushed past him. He spun around and pretty much yelled "What's going on, Fral?"

"We got company! A Bad Blood ship just latched onto us and is getting ready to board us! Get your gear on and get to the hatch, Drag!" Fral yelled over her shoulder.

_Great…Wherever I go, trouble normally follows…_ Drag'lan thought _And it looks like she called me what my squad had called me. _He had no idea what a "Bad Blood" was, but from what Fral had said, they couldn't be good.

He grabbed his helmet, donned it and latched it into place. He also grabbed his pistol and hooked it to his left leg before leaving to follow Fral. One never knew what you had grab when repelling a boarding party.

He arrived to see her in a combat stance facing the hatch. He turned to the hatch and drew his short-swords, knowing the claymores would be next to useless in close-quarters. He then entered his combat stance, which is a crouch with both blades crossed on front of him. In his mind, one of the operations his squad and he had gone through.

_Drag'lan was sitting in his dropship seat, looking at the others of his squad. Lt. Davis walked up to him and asked "Well, Drag, looks like this will be your first operation with The Reapers. Let's see what you've got, boy."_

_Drag'lan nodded to him and said "Sir yes sir. Will do my best. What's the nature of the mission?"_

_Davis laughed and said "Same as any mission we get sent on. Scientists get their asses into trouble, then the squad sent in to check on them gets FUBARed. Then we get called out to clean up the mess. Half the time, it has to do with Hives, but who knows every time, right?"_

_Drag'lan nods at this and says "Well, sir-"_

_Davis cuts him off and says "There is no need to call me 'sir', Drag. But go on."_

_Drag'lan said "Well, what if the Predators are behind this? If they're here, then shouldn't we have back-up?"_

_Davis shook his head and said "Well, if the Preds ARE here, then we're screwed. We're not getting any back-up. The Reapers operate alone. Now, stop questioning the operation and try to get some sleep. You'll need it."_

_Davis walked over to the cockpit and asked the pilot when they would get to the drop site._

_Drag'lan closed his eyes and fell asleep..._

_Eight Hours Later..._

_Drag'lan was with John near a doorway, spraying fire into the hallway, mowing down Xeno after Xeno. Then Davis popped up behind them and said "Okay, you two. We're gonna seal the door and keep moving. We need to take out the Queen, before the hive will fall."_

_Drag'lan nodded and said "Lt, shouldn't we get Flamers from the Armory though? We'll need them when taking out the Eggs."_

_Davis nodded and said "That we will, Drag. Let's get out of here tho. Chris will cover the doorway while Miles and I seal it. Get going, because McKenzie and the others are at the Rendezvous point."_

Drag'lan always remembered that moment, as it was the first time he had seen the Queen Xenomorph. She was MASSIVE, but Drag'lan didn't care when he shot at her. She fell as everyone in The Reapers fired at her at the same time. Although it took a long time, she fell in the end.

Drag'lan shook his head a bit before locking his gaze at the hatch. After he had taken his stance, the hatch opened. He saw as two Yautja walked through. Their armor looked somewhat like Fral's, but was a lot more gruesome; They had human and Yautja skulls mounted on their armor.

_Looks like we got a pair of head hunters... _Drag'lan thought.

The two Yautja looked that him and Fral, glanced at each other, nodded, and the one on his left charged at Fral, while the other charged at him. The one that charged at him was wielding dual short-swords, matching his.

_And so it begins..._he thought.

He watched as his enemy swung both blades in an x-shaped slash. Luckily, his swords were in the perfect position to block the attack. He stole a glance at Fral and noticed that the other Yautja was forcing her back with the swings of the axe he was wielding.

_Damn...She's gonna need help really quick. One hit from that axe is most likely gonna be fatal. I need to dispatch this one really fast._ Drag'lan thought.

His lapse in judgment led to what his enemy did. With her swords, she clinged onto his short-swords and disarmed him in the blink of an eye.

_Hand-to-hand combat time...go figure_ he thought.

His enemy was thinking _Heh heh. THIS is my target? I'd expected more of a challenge._

When she swung her blades at him to be-head him, he ducked the swings and drove his fist into her abdomen. It was like punching a wall of plywood 3 units thick. Drag'lan winced a bit, but that was for show. His next move was a sweep kick to take his opponent's legs out from underneath her. It did the trick, and Drag'lan ran for his swords. He heard his opponent get up.

_Damn. She recovers nearly as fast as me. Time to improvise. _He thought. He whipped around and brought his pistol to bear.

The predator looked at him holding his pistol pointing directly at her face. Although she felt uneasy, she couldn't help but be intrigued by the action.

_Damn, this guy is fast. He's got some REALLY fast reflexes._ She thought.

Drag'lan looked at her for a bit before glancing at his short-swords. they weren't that far. He started dashing for them. He wasn't about to break his code of honor that easily.

He slowed down when he got near his short-swords, and that slowing down bought his opponent time to bring out her secret weapon: special throwing knives. In an instant, she had 4 out and had thrown 2 at Drag'lan.

_This enemy is really giving me a run for my money... _he thought. _It's time to see how they deals with-_

Drag'lan's thoughts were cut short by something dashing past him, on his left cheek and his right shoulder. he raised his hand to his face and felt his cheek. When he lowered his hand, he saw blue on it. He felt the blood running out of it and down his shoulder. He whipped around and saw his target was crouching, holding 2 throwing knives in their hands. He felt his control slipping, but retained a good grip on it.

_Alright, THAT'S IT! Quarters be damned, this one is DEAD! I'm pulling out Toxin. _he thought.

Toxin was the name he gave to the great-sword he used the most. The other was named Regoll, short for Regollen, also the name of his race's homeworld. Both of them were built the same way, just different looks to them. Their blades were from his shoulders to his knees, which made them easily 4' 7"-4' 9" in length. The handles on them, hilt included, was another 10", so they were about 5' 5"-5' 7" in length. His short-swords were about 3' 7" long for the both of them. They're names are Physic and Ethereal, named after the runes on them.

He drew Toxin, the runes on it starting to glow red. The runes on all of his swords glow the color reflecting his mood.

Drag'lan turned to face his opponent. He popped the seal on his helmet and tore it off. His face had a look of anger on it as he glared at the predator.

His voice virtually rang with contempt when he said "REALLY? I let you live, and you STILL attempt to kill me? Where is your honor?"

The predator was shocked at the words Drag'lan spoke.

_This guy is clueless, isn't he? _she thought _He still keeps to honor when I try to kill him. What is his deal?_

Drag'lan was hit by surprise when she spoke her next words. Those same words also enraged him.

She said, in broken English "I try to kill you because my coward of a brother couldn't."

Drag'lan glared at her and his eyes widened. They also started turning black. Rage was flowing in his voice as he said "You're kin to the heartless bastard that killed my family? NOW YOU'RE DEAD!"

Drag'lan's vision started to blacken, but he focused all the energy he had into controlling the rage. His vision flashed black for a second, but returned. He locked his eyes on the predator and charged at her.

The predator felt fear for the first time in her life. His charge wasn't what scared her. It was his eyes; they had turned into orbs of black. His sword added to it, glowing a crimson shade of red. She threw the remaining 2 knives she had at him, both hitting their mark in his abdomen. However, he didn't acknowledge that he had even been hit. He swung his blade in a decapitating motion.

She barely managed to dodge in time.

_Man, this ooman is fast. _She thought _Nobody could have cleared the distance between us in that short of time._

Drag'lan's assault was relentless. His swings came one after the other. The predator was just lucky that none connected, because the swings could cleave off limbs. She kept barely dodging them. Drag'lan knew that he couldn't keep in this state for long.

_I can't keep this up much longer, _He thought, _If I keep in this state much longer, I'll lose it and Fral will be in danger of not just the other pred, but also me. I need to end this quickly. Time for me to pull out Regoll._

As he thought this and pulled out Regoll, his vision started to grow black again; He was starting to lose control of the rage.

_NO! I won't let Fral become a potential target of my attacks along with these fucking assholes!_ he thought.

That thought did what he had never done before. For the first time in his life, he was resisting the rage. His vision returned to normal and he felt both relieved and confused at the same time. How could thinking of Fral's safety allow him more control?

_Well, if it keeps me in control longer, I don't care. _He thought.

He resumed his assault on the predator with even greater strength. His strikes came at such a speed that the predator couldn't dodge the swings, but was parrying them with her blades.

_How does he do that? _She thought, _How can he wield such large swords one-handed so easily?_

She decided that she should fall back and tried to flee. However, a sweeping strike from his great-swords made sure that didn't work. He didn't cleave off her legs, he just hit her legs out from underneath her with the flat of the blades.

He approached her and was readying the killing blow when she said something that made him falter.

She said "Wait! If you kill me, you'll be nothing better than I am."

Drag'lan glared at her and said "That may be, but you don't fight with honor anyway, so if I DO kill you, it'll be karma. However, I'll give you one chance to redeem yourself. Betray this offer and I WILL kill you."

_Damn. This ooman is serious. Why does he fight with honor so much?_ she thought.

She started to reach for something on her back when she said "Thanks, but no thanks."

As she said this, she unsheathed the blade on her back. In a flash, she had the thing stabbed into the middle of Drag'lan's abdomen. She watched as the blade went home, but was surprised at the lack of blood that came out of the wound.

Drag'lan hit his limit for the second time. He looked at her with disgust.

He said "Looks like you've made your choice. Now it's time for you to live with the consequences."

He brought Toxin down on her arm and cleaved if off at the predator shrieked as the blade sliced through her skin, muscle and bone. He then removed the knife, arm and all, from his abdomen.

Drag'lan didn't care about how much pain he inflicted. He was growing stronger, and as he did so, it meant that his breaking point was getting closer.

With no effort, he brought her to her knees and crossed his great-swords. He placed them on her shoulders, her head resting between the crossed blades and said, in an angry tone, "Do you yield?"

_I might as well do one last attempt at peace, but I think I know the answer. _he thought.

"Ell-osde' pauk, ooman!" The predator spat at him.

Drag'lan laughed sadistically and said "You think I'm HUMAN? LOOT AT MY HAIR, BITCH!"

Just as the predator saw his hair, her jaw dropped and her eyes widened in shock. Drag'lan couldn't see her face behind the mask, but could tell when she fell silent. He chose that point to swing the blades. The predator's blood splattered EVERYWHERE: the walls, Drag'lan's blades, his clothes, his face, and maybe some even got into his hair. The predator's head went flying through the air from the force of his swing. Drag'lan stood there for a few seconds breathing heavily before he heard a scream that brought him back to his senses. It was a female scream.

_SHIT! FRAL! I forgot who she was battling. _He thought.

He sheathed Toxin and Regoll before beginning to dash down the hall. He stopped a second later and turned around. He saw his short-swords lying on the ground. He went over to them and picked them up before resuming his run towards the voice he heard. He kept them out in case he had to attack when he arrived.

He heard grunts and snarls coming from the sparring room as he approached it.

When he entered, he saw Fral on top of her opponent, punching him in the face over and over. His mask was off and he wasn't moving at all. Drag'lan tried to pull her off, but she punched him in the face multiple times, too. He managed to block the first blow, but something in his wrist cracked when he blocked it. Her next blow caught him in the jaw. It stung a little, but Drag'lan was only stunned for a second before she broke his hold and went back to punching her target. Drag'lan saw a few wounds on her, but nothing near the wounds on her victim. Drag'lan sheathed his swords and tackled Fral. It drove the knives sticking out of his abdomen even farther in, but Drag'lan managed to pin Fral's arms to the floor. He then said, in a frantic voice, "Fral! It's okay, he's dead! It's me, Drag'lan!"

Those were the magic words, as Fral stopped struggling to get free. She started sobbing as Drag'lan got up and staggered back. The room was spinning to him. He removed the blades in his abdomen and examined the knives. They had black blades, but everything else was a silver colored. He didn't have much time to think about that, because something was in his blood, making the room spin. He knew something wasn't right, but couldn't speak. He dropped the blades, fell back and blacked out a few seconds later.

Fral got up and looked around a few seconds later. She saw that the Yautja she had been fighting lay on the ground, his face bloody and his head deformed. She looked at her hands and saw green caked her knuckles.

_C'jit! I hope that isn't Drag'lan's blood. All I know is that the guy was getting too cocky and I had to put him in his place. Then he suggested that he wouldn't mind doing something with my corpse. After that, something just...snapped._ She thought.

She then looked around and saw Drag'lan laying on the ground. She dashed over to him and saw the knives he had dropped. She looked at the blades before she gasped. They were coated with the venom of the Zz'Gash, a small insectoid creature with a little-known venom in it's saliva. The venom knocks you out, and then shuts the Nervous System down slowly. The only thing that could save you is a speedy antidote injection.

_Son of a bitch... _She thought. I have little time. _Drag needs to get to the Med-bay NOW!_

She lifted Drag'lan over her shoulders and carried him towards her Med-bay. There was a small table in the middle of it. She placed him on it before searching through her antidotes. She found the antidote to Zz'Gash venom after a few minutes of searching. She readied the injection and gave it to him within the next 15 seconds. She also examined the wound the dagger that had been in the middle of his abdomen had left. He was damn lucky it didn't puncture his lung. She then started stitching the wounds he had obtained from his fight. She didn't know what else to do after that, but very carefully picked him up and took him to the bedroom. She dis-engaged the lock on his harness, put it on the ground against the wall. She took off his greaves and did the same thing with them. She then placed him on her bed. She hoped she had acted in time, but knew that only time would tell. So, she crawled into the bed and curled up next to him, in order to give him warmth. Apparently in her sleep, one of her arms wandered, because where it ended up, Drag found it when he woke up.


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6-The Aftermath

Drag'lan was utterly appalled by the beginning of the vision he had this time; He was forced to re-live the second most traumatic time in his life. No matter what he did, he couldn't get the images of what he saw out of his head.

_Drag'lan stood there and watched as his squad family died. It was as if he were bound by unseen shackles. As one member died, the next death was shown._

_John was bled as though he were a stuck pig, McKenzie was impaled through the chest with a Predator's spear, Miles was sliced into multiple pieces, Davis was cut off at the waist, and the others were beheaded. They all had looks on their faces saying "Why are you just standing there?", but Drag'lan couldn't do anything. After he re-witnessed them getting butchered, he was teleported into blackness. The figure from previous dreams formed in front of him._

_The figure nodded a greeting to Drag'lan and said "You continue to impress, Drag'lan. Your family would have been proud to see your actions. I must ask, however, what caused you to regain control of your anger?"_

_Drag'lan had no true answer. He might have a guess, but no definitive answer. He shrugged and said "I honestly don't know. My best guess would be tat fact that if I had lost control, I would've harmed an innocent."_

_The figure laughed the same hollow laugh from the last time he appeared. He then said "You truly are clueless aren't you? Very well, you'll find out the truth soon enough. Now, I told you I'd explain something when we met last. I intend to honor that. However, time is short, so you only get one question."_

_Drag'lan already knew what question he wanted to ask. He needed to know who this figure was. He sounded familiar, as if he was someone Drag'lan knew, but he couldn't (or didn't want to) remember._

_Drag'lan locked eyes with the figure's mask and asked "Who are you? You sound familiar, but I just don't know."_

_The figure genuinely laughed this time and said "I expected you to ask that. I am Herol'Frag, and I am one of your ancestors. As your hair says, you aren't fully Regollen. Deep in your genes are those of my race, the Yautja. That is why I said you needed to put aside your hatred for Yautja, because you're one of us. Long before you were born, I fell in love with a Regollen women. She loved me back and We had a child together. Luckily, the child was a female and looked most like her mother, otherwise it might not have survived. Either way, we were happy, but the clan I was in didn't approve of inter-species copulation. So, they gave me an ultimatum: Either leave my love and abandon the child, or they would both be killed. I knew that the clan wasn't going to spare them unless I left them. So, I sent my love back to wherever she came from. I never heard from her again."_

_The figure hung his head down in sorrow. Drag'lan knew that it was hard talking about love and leaving a loved one. He remained silent and waited for the figure to continue._

_The figure continued with his story. "Either way, now, so many generations down the line, here you are. You are among the last of your kind, and must look within to find your true path. Now, I must go. Drag'lan, remember your training. It will help you survive."_

_The figure, Herol'Frag, Drag'lan's Yautja ancestor, faded away._

Drag'lan woke up in a bed again. He felt something lying around his abdomen. He lifted his left arm and found another arm. If he was correct, Fral was lying behind him. He rolled over and saw Fral's face. Yep, he was right; Fral was lying down next to him. He turned back over and tried to move Fral's arm off of him, but it contracted, drawing him closer to her.

_Well, might as well go back to sleep. Maybe she'll wake up before I do, or move in her sleep, and move her arm off of me._ He thought. _But...How did I get in her bed? Ahhhh...she must have placed me here. She might not be as bad as I thought._

He closed his eyes and fell asleep.

4 hours later

Drag'lan woke up again and felt his abdomen again. Fral's arm was still there, but had a much looser grip. Drag'lan quickly slid her arm off of him and got out of bed. He raised his arm to scratch his hair and saw a brace on his left wrist.

_How the hell did I get injured to the point that I needed THIS? _He thought.

He looked around the room. He saw his harness and greaves lying on the ground against the wall.

_Fral must have taken those off me after everything._ He thought. _No wonder I slept like a rock. That harness makes sleeping in a bed nearly impossible due to discomfort. Now, the greaves I'm not so sure about. Could've just been because she didn't want the boots on the bed._

He re-equipped his harness, grabbed his greaves and walked out of the room to go into the bathroom. He needed to wash, as his clothes and skin had gotten splattered by blood.

He walked into the bathroom, set his greaves down and was taking his harness off when he saw the brace again. It puzzled him. He looked it over and tapped it. It made a metallic ring when he tapped it. he shook his arm a bit and heard a slight sloshing sound.

_There must be some medical liquid in there._ He thought.

He continued to look over it. It covered half of his forearm and his palm. The part covering his palm was a rubbery substance, allowing free movement of the fingers. He looked for a way to open the brace. After he found it, he took the brace off and rotated his wrist. He saw how fluidly it went. He recalled what had happened after he had walked into the sparring room.

_Okay, I tried pulling Fral off of that other Pred and she hit me. Wait...I blocked the first blow with my wrist. THAT must have been the cause of the injury that put my wrist in that brace._ He thought. _Well, in any case, I need to wash myself. This blood really looks bad on me and my clothes. My harness will end up cleaning itself as well as my blades. My greaves will be fine, since they didn't get hit with any blood._

Drag'lan slipped out of his clothes. When he looked down, he saw three sets of stitching on his abdomen.

_What the...AHHHHHH...now I remember. That bitch of a Pred threw 2 knives at me and stabbed me. Looks like Fral stitched up the wounds for me. She really isn't as bad as I thought._he thought.

He finished undressing and slid into the "tub". He turned on the water to his preferred heat and waited for it to get up to his chest. As it rose, the blood on his skin started to wash away. Once the water hit his chest, he turned it off. He then started to wash his body. He was careful around his abdomen and shoulder, as they were stitched up and he didn't want to re-open the wounds.

He noticed that as he washed, the blood that had dried on him started to glow a bit before mixing with the water. After he had finished washing, the water had a faint aqua tint to it. He then proceeded to wash his hair. Apparently, some of the blood splatter also got into his hair. Although the bright green tinge went well with his hair to him , he disliked alterations that he didn't personally make.

After he was done, he walked to his clothes and looked them over. On them, there were what looked like large green stains. That was where the blood soaked in.

_Son of a bitch...this stuff absorbed the blood. Mother fucker..._ He thought, seriously annoyed. _This is gonna be more of a pain in the ass than I thought._

In any case, he picked them up, took off all of the accessories that he had, and took them to the tub. He sat down and pulled his leggings out from the heap. they ALWAYS needed washing after a mission. He doesn't know why, only that it happens.

The water wasn't hot enough for the blood to get washed out, so he drained the tub and grabbed the bowl he had washed his leggings in last time and filled it with steaming hot water. He went about washing his clothes. His shirt took longer than the others because most of the blood splatter was on his shirt. His mind wandered to why he was always followed by some sort of trouble.

Drag'lan sighed. "Why is it that I'm always followed by trouble? My squad always noticed that. Whenever we wet on a mission, something ALWAYS went wrong. Whenever we would raid a hive, one of the smart-gunner's guns would jam or the flamethrower would have a leak in the fuel canister. It's like I'm a curse on missions..." He said to himself.

After he finished washing his clothes, he wrung them out thoroughly. He then picked them up and went into the drying room. He set them down on the second chair and turned the room on. He sat down in the vacant chair, closed his eyes and waited for his clothes to dry.

Fral was having one of the worst nightmares she had ever didn't know why, but the dream had to do with Drag'lan. She thought that he was compassionate, but this showed him as a "monster".

_She was trapped in a box-like room. She was unsure how she had gotten there, but knew that her gear was taken, and her mask had been removed._

_She heard murmurs from the door to her cell. She approached the door and put her head next to it to hear through it. What she heard terrified her._

_One voice said "You want first shot at this one? She's a fiery one. Killed half of Delta squad before Gamma squad got there."_

_Another voice said "Damn. They said Delta was the toughest squad there was. Well, if that's what she did, I'm not taking first shot at her. No telling what she could do."_

_Fral backed away from the door after that. She was horrified._

What are they planning to do with me?_ She thought._

_Right after she thought that, an alarm went off. She wasn't sure what was going on._

_A voice over the intercom was yelling "Intruder! Someone has broken through! Squads Alpha through Theta go to check on-"_

_Then the intercom went to static._

_"What the HELL IS THAT?" One of the voices outside said._

_Fral heard rapid gunfire outside of the door, but the gunfire ended when there were two loud single gunshots. She backed away into the corner of her cell._

_There was another gunshot outside and the door to her cell opened. A figure entered, wearing a mask much like her own. The figure then removed its mask and she saw orbs of black where its eyes should be, just like Drag'lan's. Then she noticed the hair length and armor looks. It WAS Drag'lan. Drag'lan looked at her with curiosity before glaring at her. He unsheathed a knife attached to his harness before stabbing her through the chest. She watched as the blade went home. She then fell, vision growing black, as she saw Drag'lan just walked away._

Fral woke up with a jolt. She felt her forehead with her left arm and felt sweat there. Her bed was wet as well; the nightmare she had had made her sweat in her sleep. She noticed that Drag'lan was gone. She sat up and looked around. He had taken his harness and greaves as well.

_Surely he hasn't left._ She thought. _I doubt he could survive in space._

She got out of the bed and walked to her closet. She sifted through it, looking for a good outfit to wear. She found one outfit that caught her eye: a simple Lavender tunic with a matching skirt that went down to her knees. She dressed up in that and walked out of the bedroom searching for Drag'lan.

She checked in the sparring room, half expecting to find him meditating, but he wasn't there. Then she headed to the bathroom. It was the most logical location; He had been covered in blood when she tended to his wounds.

_It would make sense if he was in the bathroom. I would want to clean myself if I was covered in blood to the extent he was. _She thought.

She entered the bathroom and saw that he wasn't there. She did however, notice that his harness and greaves were lying against the wall and a trail of water led from a large bowl near the tub to the drying room door.

_Of course...he washed his clothes in the bowl and then took them into the drying room to dry. He probably went as well to dry off as well. _She thought.

She approached the door and knocked, not wanting to invade on his privacy.

Drag'lan was brought back to the present by a knock on the drying room door.

_That would be Fral, checking to see if I'm in here, heh heh._ He thought.

Sure enough, he heard Fral's voice, saying "Drag'lan? Are you in there?"

Drag'lan stood up and said "Yeah, I'm in here. Just give me a bit to get dressed."

He slipped on his boxers and leggings. He bypassed putting on his shirt because since it was somewhat cut up, it wouldn't look good if he wore it right now, without his harness. He shook his head a bit to make sure his hair was dry before he walked out of the drying room.

Fral looked at him as he walked out. She couldn't help but notice his build. He was slim, but muscular. It was no wonder how he could flip her. She heard herself panting ever so softly again.

_God damn it. Check yourself, girl. He isn't THAT hot of stuff._ She thought.

She couldn't help but wonder at how he could survive through that Zz'Gash venom. Normally, people would die after only 30 minutes, but he survived for over 10 hours and beat the venom out of his system.

_He's one tough bastard if he survived 3 knives in his abdomen, one of which nearly piercing his lung, and the other 2 being coated with Zz'Gash venom. It's a wonder he survived with that high of an amount of the venom in him._ She thought.

She looked at Drag'lan and said "Are you feeling all right? If you're feeling sick, I'll understand. You've been out for over 10 hours."

Drag'lan looked at her and said "10 hours huh? What put me out of commission for that time? I was only out for maybe 6 of those, just so you know. The other 4 I slept through."

Fral turned her head to the side in confusion. She said "Well, that's surprising. Few could survive the amount of Zz'Gash venom that you were subject to. They normally die within 10 minutes with that dosage you got, yet you survived for 6 hours."

Drag'lan turned an eyebrow at her in confusion and said "What the hell is a Zz'Gash? It sounds like some pest or something."

Fral nodded at him and said "The Zz'Gash IS a pest. They are small creatures that tend to live on desert worlds. They have been known to devour almost anything within minutes if swarms converge. They have a toxin in their saliva that knocks you out and then shuts your nervous system down. Nobody has been found that is resistant, much less immune, to it."

Drag'lan nodded and said "Yea. I've always been resistant to toxins. I get it from my mother. Once, on one of the operations my squad and I went on, I accidentally got on the wrong side of a toxic creature. Within a day, I was back in combat. However, 2 days later, another marine had the bad luck of running into the same kind of creature, and was out of commission for a week."

Fral looked at him in amazement. How could he be THAT resistant to poisons?

Drag heard her stomach grumble and said "Well, I don't know about you, but I'm hungry."

Fral nodded and said "How long ago did you eat? I haven't seen you eat anything."

Drag said "By my count, 4 days."

Fral's jaw dropped. She asked "FOUR DAYS? How can you survive without food for so long?"

Drag'lan laughed and said "Honestly, I'm not that sure. My father told me that Regollen don't need food to stay alive, just healthy. However, my mom said that I needed to eat because I wasn't fully Regollen. She said my spike hair was evidence enough of that. I got my hair from her."

_Wait, so his mother was part Yautja? well...that would explain how he can speak Yautjan. _Fral thought.

Drag'lan looked at Fral and said "Where's the kitchen? I would really like something to eat."

Fral looked at him and gestured at the door. Then she walked out of the bathroom and down the hall. Drag'lan followed closely. They went to the kitchen. It wasn't unlike what Drag had had when he went on leave. He had had his own little house and would stay there until he was called for via the video phones. He went and sat down at the table.

Fral looked at Drag'lan and smiled in her mind. She happened to be a very good chef. She said "Is there anything you'd like in particular?"

Drag'lan shook his head. He didn't know the first thing when it came to Yautjan cooking. He said "Nope, nothing I'd like in particular. Just surprise me. I've had to survive on almost anything."

_Okay_ Fral thought, _Time to see what I can come up with._

Fral always relished a cooking challenge. She pulled a large squirrel-like creature out of the fridge. She skinned and gutted it. It might be dirty and messy, but it was necessary. She then took the meat off the bones. Drag watched as she worked. She poured a sauce that he didn't recognize into a pan and put it on the stove to simmer. While the sauce was heating up, she dashed up different herbs and spices. She then rubbed the mixture into the meat. After the sauce started to slightly sear, she put the meat into the sauce.

Drag'lan smirked at this.

_Looks like she has a hidden skill. _He thought

He caught a whiff of the meat and felt his mouth salivating. It smelled delicious.

Fral noticed his smirk and chuckled. She said "Didn't expect me to be this good of a cook, did you?"

Drag'lan shook his head and said "Couldn't say anything either way with that, as I don't know you that well."

Fral looked at him with an understanding expression and said "Same here."

Drag'lan chuckled and said "Well, everybody has a skill that people don't know."

Fral nodded. She knew that all too well; Her older brother happened to be a very talented musician, but had a muscular build, so it was assumed that he only know combat.

She smelled the meat and, because it started to smell very sweet, flipped it. A few minutes, later, the meat was finished. She pulled out some basic circular sheets of metal to act as plates and put even helpings of meat on both. She put the pan into the sink and walked over to a drawer. She pulled out 2 large dumbbell-shaped fruits. She knew that they were tart, and figured that they would go well with the meat. She put one on each of the "plates" and brought one to Drag'lan. She then sat down next to him.

Drag'lan said thanks for the meal, and Fral nodded. Drag'lan tried some of the meat. It was even sweeter than he had expected. It was as if the sauce had been absorbed into the meat, making it both tender and sweet. He nodded his head and said "DAMN! This stuff is GREAT!"

Fral laughed and said "Well, I've never cooked with this kind of meat in this way, but I do agree. It is good. But try some of the fruit. You might like the mix."

Drag'lan picked up the fruit and bit into the corner of it. It was tart, but complimented the meat very well. He nodded his approval.

He said "While this fruit isn't something I'd eat on a regular basis on its own, it is a good mix with the meat."

They kept chatting throughout the meal. Fral learned that, as they spoke, Drag'lan wasn't so cold and distant as she had thought. It was all a guard. He was actually quite nice in conversation. He was somewhat sarcastic, but she could live with that. Drag'lan also learned that Fral was more caring and compassionate than he had thought. They got along quite well, as it turned out, despite the conditions that they met.

After the meal was finished, Fral started to get up to wash the dishes, but Drag'lan stood up and said "I'll take care of the dishes. It's only proper, as you cooked and served the meal."

He went over to the sink and started washing the dishes.

_Wow...a warrior and a gentleman...what isn't he? _Fral thought with a slight chuckle.

She felt something deeper than joy in her heart as she watched him work. She didn't know why, but she just knew that she liked having him around.

After the dishes were cleaned and put away, Drag'lan returned to the table and Fral stood up. She then did something that caught him completely off-guard: She hugged him. He was so caught off guard that he wasn't sure what to do. So, he just hugged her back.

They remained embraced like that for a few minutes before Drag'lan started to come to his senses.

_WHAT AM I DOING?_ he thought. _I vowed to not get attached to anything. How can this be different?_

Then he heard a voice in his head. It was the voice of his father.

_The voice said "My son, you feel this way because you know deep within that she can help to end your anguish."_

Drag'lan didn't know why his father was speaking to him, or if he even was, but saw the point in what he said.

Drag'lan felt Fral release her hug and did the same. She raised her head and locked eyes with his.

Drag'lan saw uncertainty in her eyes, as if she was combating some clash of feelings inside. She, on the other hand, saw Strength, with an undertone of kindness in his eyes. She couldn't explain how she saw the kindness, just that she could.

Drag'lan broke the silence by saying "Thank you, Fral'Drylx for...everything...that you've done for me."

Fral nodded, hugged him again, and whispered "And thank you, Drag'lan, for teaching me even more that not everybody is what they appear to be." into his ear.


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7-Home

Drag'lan broke her hug and said "Well. You said that you wanted me to join your clan. How long is it going to be until we reach our destination?"

Fral said "A little less than a week. It took me a week to reach the planet you found me on, and we've been in space for a little over a day. So, what is the plan for today?"

Drag'lan shrugged. He wasn't completely sure what he was going to do. The main thing he wanted to do was work out more, but his mind kept telling him to do something else.

So, he said "Well, I'm not too sure what I wanna do. How heavy would all of your gear be when stacked?"

Fral shrugged and said "I don't know, but if you wanna work out, why not just spar again?"

Drag'lan looked at her doubtfully. He said "You sure you wanna spar with me again? after what happened the last time?"

Fral laughed and said "Well, it's better than testing how heavy my gear would be when stacked."

Drag'lan nodded and said "Well, might as well then. You think you'll be okay with what you're wearing for sparring?"

Fral nodded. She said "Yes, I'll be fine."

Drag'lan said "Very well then. Let's go to the sparring room."

They went to the sparring room and sparred. Although Drag'lan still won, it was more difficult, as Fral was a fast learner. He had to use different tactics to put her into submission. Fral noticed how he fought : He would just take a hit every now and then in order to be in a better position to strike back at her. She asked why he did that.

Drag'lan shrugged and said "It was the way I was raised to fight. My father used to say 'If you have to take a hit to deal more damage with your next blow, then it is worth it.' He was the strictest people I knew when it came to my training."

Fral looked at him and said "Well, that is an interesting combat thought. If you could take a hit in order to strengthen your next blow, then why not charge them and deal the blow?"

"Because that isn't the path of honor. One only charges when there is no other action that can be taken." Drag'lan said.

Fral left it at that, and they returned to sparring. This time, Drag'lan let Fral win, mostly because after interrupting a match, he didn't feel like fighting again. They retired to he bedroom, and though Drag'lan said he'd be fine, Fral insisted on him sleeping in her bed to keep warm.

Drag'lan shook his head, knowing that it wouldn't do any good to argue, so he waited for her to get under the covers before taking off his harness, greaves and leggings before climbing into the bed next to her. He felt her breasts press against his back as she slid next to him.

_Preds must prefer to sleep _el natural_..._ Drag'lan thought.

He felt her slide an arm around his abdomen, just as she had when he was knocked out from the Zz'Gash venom. He disregarded it, as he heard her start purring in a content way. He closed his eyes and went to sleep.

~

This happened every day for the next 4 days. It became routine for them to spar after eating.

Fral noticed that Drag'lan wasn't truly putting his heart into it one day. She thought it was to be nice about how many times he won. He had obviously been trained extensively, but a lot of his tactics revolved around using momentum and other natural forces to gain the upper hand. It was an interesting combat tactic, one that many overlooked. She sure as hell did. One time, she managed to out-maneuver him and put him into a hold. He then spun and bucked immediately after he had stopped spinning. Those two actions, when used as a combo, sent her over him and onto her back. He then backed away and waited for her to get up.

After she did, he waited her to make the next move. She only stood there. Drag'lan got out of his combat pose, but Fral had other plans. She knew he would get out of the combat pose he was in, so she charged him. Drag'lan was ready for it, and side-stepped the charge like he had done normally, but didn't expect her to sweep _his_ legs out from under him. He landed on his stomach and focused on his other senses to see where she was coming from. He didn't hear anything, but felt the vibrations of her footfalls. He put his hands on the mat of the room, pushed and sprung back to his feet. He felt her slip her arms under his and start pulling back. He hurled himself forward and flipped her over him. He then attempted to pin her, but she reversed the tables and pinned him. He was in such a position that he couldn't do anything, so he conceded defeat. She was happy to have won, and they both got up. Drag'lan looked at her and said "Well done. That was an interesting move set you used. You have some skills of assassins and espionage agents."

Fral nodded, smiling in her head. She said "That's what my brother says all the time. He might be an all-out brawler, but I can still beat him in combat."

Drag'lan knew she had something to ask, but was unsure what she did. He said "I can see you are curios about something. What is it?"

Fral said "When you were knocked out from the Zz'Gash venom, I saw you have Marine tags around your neck. Were you part of them?"

Drag'lan nodded and said "Yes, I was. The group I was in were called the Reapers. Here, look at this."

He turned so that she saw the part of his shirt on his shoulder. She saw a patch there. It had a pair of crossed scythes with a tombstone beneath them. Above the scythes was a bright blue flame. On the tombstone, the letters RIH were printed, with the sentence "The only rest we take is that in hell"

She marveled at the insignia. She said "What were they good at?"

Drag'lan said "Well, they specialized in raiding Xeno hives. You know the hip-mounted machine-guns that some humans use?"

Fral nodded. She had taken out a few of those kinds of oomans before.

"Well, the Reapers were a 10-man squad, not including me, that had FOUR of them." Drag'lan said.

Fral winced. One of them was painful enough. She couldn't imagine four in one group.

Drag'lan continued "In addition to that, the Reapers had 2 Flamethrowers, 2 Shot-gunners, and 2 Pulse Rifle users. I was the third Pulse Rifle user. If they hadn't died, I would've become a Shot-Gunner."

Fral left that alone. She didn't need to know much more for now.

~

The day they arrived started as it had done for the last 4 days: Fral led the way to the sparring room. Drag'lan, on the way, started murmuring something to himself on this day. Fral only caught bits and pieces of it, but couldn't understand what he said.

_Must be speaking in Regollen again._ she thought; Drag'lan had started speaking in Regollen a lot lately.

In Drag'lan's mind, he was debating between the two conflicting mindsets that were presented to him. On one hand, he had his shield, his personal isolationist vow, in order to protect him and everybody else. On the other hand, he had the messages that were left to him, telling him to open his heart again.

He wasn't sure which one to go with. If he kept his heart shut, then he'd never lose anything, but would die alone. However, if he did open his heart, he wouldn't be in so much suffering, but would that be worth the risk of losing everything again, just like before.

While he was thinking this, Fral was thinking about what had happened during the bad blood encounter.

_How did they know where Drag'lan was?_ She thought. _Unless...unless they were sent immediately after his family was wiped out...though I can't see that happening. Something is missing from the picture here._

Fral stopped. Drag'lan stopped as well. Fral turned around and stared deeply into Drag'lan's eyes. She saw pain. She then dared to ask the question she didn't when they had sparred the first time. She asked "What happened after your family was killed?"

Drag'lan looked at her. He wasn't sure what to say. All he knew was that if he didn't make his choice on whether he would open his heart or keep it sealed soon, it would make its own choice.

He decided to start from when he was running as a child.

"As I have told you, my Regollen family was killed by Xenos. What I never told you was that the Marines had made a deal with my father. He had a VERY rare ability: the ability of foresight. Apparently, he had seen that he was going to die, along with my mother, younger brother and younger sisters. So, he made a deal with the marines that if they found me all alone, they would take me in and raise me."

Fral just stood there, listening intently. She needed this information badly.

Drag'lan continued "Well, the Marines took me in and trained me in their form of combat, just as my father had wanted. When I was about 17 in looks, they returned the harness I now own to me, along with the swords I wield. From what I was told, these heirlooms were left by my father. Maybe...maybe if he had kept them, my family wouldn't have died..." Drag'lan broke off there as he felt tears start to form in his eyes. He closed his eyes, attempting to fight them back when he felt Fral hug him.

Fral said, in a calming tone, "Well, if he had, then the both of us wouldn't have met. Is that something you could've lived with?" She had seen this coming, her clan intuition ability coming to light again.

Drag'lan hugged her back and said "No...you're the closest thing I've ever had to a friend."

Fral released her hug and said "Well then, maybe it was a good thing that your family died. A very sorrowful time, which I can't respect nearly as much as you, but in the long run, a good thing."

Drag'lan nodded and said "You're right. I don't really feel like sparring today, to tell you the truth."

Fral nodded and said "Okay, then. I will check the navigation computer and see how far we are from my home."

Drag'lan walked into the sparring room and sat down. He started thinking about what he would do after he made his choice. Little did he know that he had already made his choice in telling Fral as much as he had.

Fral walked into the cockpit and looked at the Navigation console. She input a few commands and saw that they were about 3 hours away from arriving. In her mind, she felt both fear and relief. She felt relief because she would finally see her family again, but felt fear for what they would think of Drag'lan. The fear also was what she felt when she thought of what her father might try to do to Drag'lan. She, however, had a rough idea on something that might discourage him from attacking Drag'lan; She had found a female Yautja's be-headed body in one of the halls after the fight. She disposed of the body, but kept the head, wanting to show it to Drag as his trophy.

She called for Drag'lan. When he walked in, she pointed at the navigation console.

"We'll be arriving at my home in 3 hours." she said.

Drag'lan said "Okay. Hopefully they won't freak out too much when they see me walk off the ship."

Fral said "Yes...About that...I would really appreciate it if you stayed on the ship while I try to explain everything to them. So, only come out when I call for you. It's not really the others going crazy, it's my dad. He is the one you'll want to worry about. There is no telling what he might try to do to you."

Drag'lan tapped the holster on his left leg and said "That's what this is for."

Fral looked at him and said "You're not going to shoot him, right?"

Drag'lan shook his head and said "Oh hell no. Gonna just see if looking down the business end of a custom gun might discourage him from attacking me."

Fral said "Well, he won't. He doesn't feel fear."

Drag'lan said "Well, neither do I, and besides, I'll fire this at his feet before even readying it to fire."

Fral exhaled with relief "Well, hopefully it won't come to that."

Drag'lan nodded and said "Yes...And I was just wondering, but what is in that sack I saw in he sparring room, near your other skulls? I've been meaning to ask you about it, but never got around to it."

Fral said 'It's the head of the Yautja you beheaded when the 2 bad-bloods boarded us."

"Is it really necessary to keep that around?" Drag'lan asked, with doubt on his face.

Fral nodded and said "If you want a chance at surviving, then yes, it is necessary. Unless they know what you can do to Yautjas against a bad blood, they might try to kill you. Now, we might want to get ready; we're gonna be landing in about 2 hours."

Drag'lan nodded. He was as ready as he'd ever be. However, he went to the sparring room, sat down and started to meditate again. He was seeing if his father's voice would return.

Oddly enough, his father spoke to him.

_"Drag'lan, you need to stop closing yourself off. If you do, you will die alone, and that is not the way of our people. When your ancestors fought, they did so in ranks. They never went on a mission alone."_

_Drag'lan replied to this by saying "But what about you? You were always alone when you fought."_

_His father replied by saying "This is different. You have been given the chance I was never given; to gain allies. If you let this chance pass you by, you won't get another one like this."_

_Drag'lan knew he was right, but had to ask something "Did you see that this would happen?"_

_His father said "Sadly, I did. If the future were to play out at is has, I needed to die. However, that means you now have a chance to expand outward, which i could never have done."_

_With that, Drag'lan's father left his mind._

Drag'lan opened his eyes. He saw Fral standing there. She was looking at him with an odd expression.

She said "I heard you talking, and came in here. Then I see you with your eyes closed, talking as if someone were in the room. What was that about?"

Drag'lan shook his head and said "I don't know. I just heard my father's voice in my head and spoke back. I didn't know that I had spoken out loud."

Fral didn't look like she was that convinced, but decided against pushing the subject. She said "Well, you want to spar for a little before we land?"

Drag'lan shrugged and nodded. In his heart, he didn't want to spar, but did so to be nice.

Drag'lan took her down faster than he had ever done. She charged him, like she normally did, but he immediately spun and swept her feet out from underneath her. He then jumped on top of her and held her down. She yielded quite quickly after that.

They went to the kitchen area and ate. It was a good meal: some reptile-like meat with spicy seasoning and a sweet fruit that Fral said she loved. Drag'lan wasn't too partial to the mix, but the meat was good and the fruit was sweet. He would've preferred the sweet fruit on its own, but didn't say so to be polite.

~

1 hour later

~

Drag'lan marveled at the look of Fral's home. When she said home, he had thought she meant a planet. However, her home was the largest ship he had ever seen. He couldn't stop his jaw from dropping.

Fral noticed this, laughed and said "Like my home? Hopefully, if all goes well, it will be your home as well."

Drag'lan looked at her and said "This is your home? When you said home, I had assumed that you meant a planet. This thing looks like it would put the Regollen capitol ships in the scrapyard."

Drag'lan had never seen a Regollen Capitol ship, but from what his parents had told him, the Capitol Ships were huge ships that had been the main powerhouse behind the Regollen planet's defense during their resistance. From what Drag'lan had heard, their weapons, when fully powered up, made Swiss cheese out of the enemies' ships.

Fral laughed and said "Well, Lai'Kairis can hold off a large invading army, but I don't think that has ever happened. I'm glad you like it, though. I just hope that you get a chance to see truly how beautiful it is."

Drag'lan nodded. "I hope so, too."

Fral was starting to approach when they were stopped by two other Predator ships. These ships were somewhat like Fral's, but built more for combat than hers. They hailed Fral and asked for identification.

Fral started to converse with the ships, giving identification and asking for clearance to land. She decidedly left Drag'lan out of the messages, trying to keep the chaos that would ensue at his discovery to a minimum. Drag'lan understood bits and pieces of the chatter, but most of it was stuff he couldn't understand.

In the end, Fral was given a bay to land in. She contacted her dad and asked her to meet her at the bay she was given. She told him to bring her brothers and sister. He was hesitant at first, but when she said she had found someone he needed to meet, he changed his mind.

Fral turned to Drag'lan and said "Okay, everything has been put into motion. Now to see if the idea works out."

Drag'lan nodded, but remained silent. He was trying to enter his zen area in order to avoid entering his rage mode when "dealing" with Fral's dad.

Once they landed, Fral and Drag'lan walked to the side hatch and Drag'lan waited next to the hatch, but far enough away to be out of sight, as they had talked. He simply leaned against the wall and waited.

Fral descended the ramp, fully clad in her armor and with her mask in her hand. Her dad was standing there, along with her brothers and sister. Her older brother walked up to her and hugged her. She hugged him back. His armor was more banged up than she had remembered.

_He must have been on another hunt while I was gone_ she thought.

She approached her dad and hugged him. Although he wasn't the hugging type, he hugged her back.

Her dad released his hug quickly. He then got straight to the point, something he was well-known for. He said "What was so important that you needed all four of us here?"

Fral said "I have an embarrassing turn of events. When I was hunting, i got captured by the Kainde Amedha and was hived."

Her dad raised his eyebrows, now interested. He said "Well. That is interesting. How did you manage to escape?"

Fral looked into his eyes and said "That is why I called you. There was outside help for me to escape. He's on my ship. However, before I call him out, I must ask one thing of you."

Her dad looked at her and said "Which is what?"

Fral took a deep breathe.

_Here goes nothing..._ she thought.

She said "You don't want to anger the person who got me out of the Kainde Amedha hive. He also took out a bad-blood in one-on-one combat."

Her father looked at her, now interested even more. He said "Very well then. Let's see him."

Fral turned back to her ship and said "Drag'lan, you can come out now."

A moment passed before steps where heard from inside her ship. Then armored boots and greaves appeared down the ramp, followed closely by Marine fatigue leggings with a weapon holstered to the left and right legs. That was followed by a pair of swords in hip-mounted sheathes, with a harness holding clips and a combat knife. They then saw the head of the person descending the ramp. It looked uncannily like an ooman, but had black eyes and shoulder-length jet-black spikes. Jutting out behind the head were what looked like larger swords.

Fral's dad, brothers and sister, along with a few onlookers looked at Drag'lan. Fral's family looked at Drag'lan and looked back at Fral in disbelief. How could this person rescue her from a Kainde Amedha hive? And on top of that, how could he have taken out a bad-blood? They had all heard how sucky oomans were in melee combat. Fral's dad actually knew how sucky they were, as he had acquired many ooman skulls for his trophy wall.

Her dad was the first to speak. He said "What joke are you trying to pull, Fral'Drylx? This Ooman wouldn't last any length of time against a bad-blood."

Fral looked at him with wide eyes. She said "Do you want to see proof?"

Her dad looked at her sternly, crossed his arms, and said "You know that I do."

Fral turned to Drag'lan and saw that he was holding the sack containing the Decapitated Bad-Blood's head. She nodded at him solemnly. He tossed the sack at the feet of her dad. Her dad then picked up the sack. He pulled out the head of the Yautja that Drag'lan had be-headed and showed it to a passing enforcer. The enforcer flipped open its wrist-pad, pulled up the wanted posters and confirmed that this was in fact a bad-blood, wanted for killing other Yautja as well as poaching on private hunting reserves. The enforcer then became aware of Drag'lan's presence. The enforcer immediately started to move towards Drag'lan, raising his arm.

The enforcer didn't get too close to Drag'lan when he did what nobody, except Fral'Drylx, expected.

Drag'lan had reacted instinctively when the enforcer approached him; he pulled out his pistol and pointed it directly at the enforcer.

Drag'lan said, in decent Yautja, stunning everyone there, "I wouldn't do that if I were you. Back off."

Fral got in the way of the enforcer and tried to stop him. She said "Listen to him. That gun he is holding isn't a normal marine pistol-"

She was cut off as the enforcer shoved her aside. She hit the ground with a _thump_.

Drag'lan's face hardened when the enforcer had shoved Fral. He took his chance of a clear shot and shot the ground in front of the enforcer. To all that were there, it looked as if a beam of gold was shot into the ground, which then exploded, leaving a crater about a foot wide and an inch deep in it. Drag'lan then returned to pointing the gun at the enforcer.

He said "Don't test that again. Otherwise, I won't be responsible for what might happen."

The enforcer looked at the crater, and then at Drag'lan. He backed up a bit and lowered his arm.

Fral got up and turned to her dad. She said "See what I mean? He's not one to be angered."

Her dad looked at Drag'lan and said, in semi-decent English, "Well. It seems you have the skills with guns that most Oomans have, but can you deal with THIS?"

He was in his armor, which wasn't uncommon for him, but he activated his Plasma Caster and aimed at Drag'lan. The onlookers scattered, not wanting to be near the cannon when it went off. Fral gasped. There was no way for Drag'lan to avoid the bolt, she thought. She was wrong.

Drag'lan saw the trademark three red dots appear on his chest and instinctively dove to the right. He dodged the bolt by maybe a second. In his dive, he un-sheathed Toxin. He then got up and, while holding Toxin in his right hand, holstered his pistol. Toxin's runes were glowing slightly orange, which showed that he was annoyed. The second shot came straight at him, and he took a defensive stance, with Toxin held out, blocking his heart.

The plasma bolt hit Toxin right in the middle. Although Drag'lan wasn't harmed, the upper third of Toxin was blown clean off. The part went flying through the air and stuck into the ground about 20 feet away. Drag'lan scrambled after it. He heard laughs of the Preds around him, but didn't care. He just wanted to see if he could fix Toxin. He picked up the piece and saw that the metal on the part that was broken off was stretching towards the rest of the blade, and the blade was doing the same. He put them near each other, and the blade returned to its normal shape, as his short-swords had when subject to Xeno acid. he exhaled in relief and got up, his anger starting to flare.

He looked at Fral's dad with anger in his face. The runes on Toxin shifted from orange to red in an instant, shocking people there even further.

"WHAT WAS THAT FOR? I COME HERE AT THE REQUEST OF YOUR DAUGHTER, AND YOU ATTEMPT TO KILL ME?" He yelled.

Everyone saw what his eyes were slowly changing, and many gasped; the black that used to be only his irises was expanding. Fral saw this and got in between of her dad and Drag'lan. She looked at her dad, with fear in her eyes, and said "Do you have a death wish? This person took out a bad-blood. Do you really want to see how well he fights?"

Her dad looked at her and said "No, but I wanted to see how fast his reflexes were. It's possible that he killed a bad-blood, but I'm still doubtful. Greth'ler, what do you think?"

Fral's older brother, Greth'ler, looked at his father and nodded his head "I say he could take out a bad-blood easily with his reflexes. Besides, when has Fral ever lied to us?"

Her sister looked at Drag'lan and said "I agree! I agree! He could mash up Bad-bloods good!" many laughed at the way she spoke; She was only about 6 by human standards.

He younger brother looked at Drag'lan with awe mixed with some fear and said "Well, I can agree as well. Based on how he blocked your shot, it's completely possible for him to have killed a bad-blood."

So, Fral's dad said "Very well then. Fral'drylx, keep him with you at all times. So far, there has only been one other ooman to have been brought here alive. I will need to talk to the elders about this, in order to see if he can stay."

Fral looked at Drag'lan and nodded. Drag'lan sheathed Toxin and walked over to her. He was still somewhat angry over what her dad had done.

Fral looked at him and said "I'm sorry about how my dad reacted. He is the type that wants to see skills first-hand before making any judgments."

Drag'lan just shook his head and didn't say anything. He was trying to re-enter his zen state.

Fral's older brother walked up behind Drag'lan and was just about to put him in a headlock when he pulled out his pistol, whipped around and stuck it underneath his mask.

He said "Never try to sneak up on me. It rarely works."

Fral looked at her brother and glared at him as if to say "Don't do that again"

Her brother looked at the pistol and said, in broken English, "Sorry to startle you. I forget I'm not assassin. Fral." He clapped Fral on the back after he said this.

Drag'lan lowered his pistol and turned back around, remaining silent. Fral started walking to her quarters of the ship, and Drag'lan followed, with her siblings in hot pursuit.

Fral looked at Drag and said "So, the big one is Greth'ler, my older brother. He's a brawler, like you. The other male is Ter'thig. He's in training to take the clan rites. No telling what he's gonna be in specialization. Then the little one is Jor'laya, my younger sister. She can get annoying at times, but is pretty decent most of the time."

Drag'lan shook his head and said "I honestly don't care who they are. I just want to get somewhere where I can calm down."

Fral led him through one of the training grounds for initiates. He heard laughing as he passed. He blocked it out of his mind until he heard one initiate say "Well, well...looks like we have some Pyode Amedha in our midst. Let's correct this." to its friends and start walking towards him.

Drag'lan heard them approaching and stopped. He turned around and saw a Predator that was about 7ft 8in followed by 3 others with heights that ranged from 7ft 3in to 7ft 7in. The leader of the rag-tag group attempted to punch him, but Drag'lan ducked underneath the blow and swept the guys legs out from underneath him. He then pulled out both of his guns, pointed them at 2 of the three lackeys, and put his foot on the chest of the leader.

Drag'lan said "Never think that because something looks weak that it is. Remember that, and you might just survive your first hunt." to the leader of the group.

Drag'lan then holstered his guns, got off of the leader's chest, turned around and slightly dashed to catch up with Fral.

Fral had stopped after noticing that Drag'lan wasn't there and turned around. She saw what he had done to the initiate and shook her head.

_How could I not have seen that coming?_ she thought.

Once Drag'lan caught up, they resumed their walk to where Fral was heading. He didn't know where they were heading, but knew that she wouldn't lead him off course. He remained silent, despite her siblings attempts to get him to speak.

A few minutes later, they arrived at their location: Fral's house. Much to their surprise, Fral's dad was there, along with another Yautja that was about his height. When he saw Drag'lan, Fral's dad nodded at him and murmured something to the other Yautja. The second Yautja walked up to Drag'lan.

Drag'lan looked up into his eyes. He saw something that resembled curiosity in his eyes before he was grabbed by the neck and lifted to the Yautja's eye level.

Fral ran up to her dad.  
>"Who's that, dad? And why is he holding Drag'lan like that?'<p>

"That's elder Kal'deris. He's the one that would really listen to what I had to say. He's holding Drag'lan like that to inspect him."

Drag'lan was dangling in the air, and was a bit shocked, but made no action to attack, as the yautja holding him had him in a rather loose grip.

Fral aid "It's okay Drag'lan, this is one of the elders. He's just inspecting you."

Meanwhile, Kal'deris looked over Drag'lan's build and gear. He saw Drag'lan's guns, swords and knife. Those didn't interest him. He then looked at Drag'lan's hair and eyes. THOSE interested him. The spikes threw him for a loop, though. How could a ooman have spikes for hair?

He ran his fingers through Drag'lan's hair briefly before realizing that the spikes were his natural hairstyle. He set Drag'lan back down and walked back over to Fral's dad. They conversed in Yautjan for a bit before the elder walked back to Drag'lan.

The elder said, in English, "So, you're the one that I was informed of. I was told you be-headed a bad-blood, but I doubt this highly."

Drag'lan just stood there, looking straight into the elder's eyes.

Fral looked from Drag'lan to the elder. Neither looked like they were going to attack, but Drag'lan looked uneasy, as if he knew something bad was about to happen. She stepped in and said "Elder, what are you planning to do?"

The elder looked at her and said "I'm going to test how well he fights. I'll make my judgments after that."

Fral's siblings were gone; they had walked off when Fral had started to lead Drag'lan out of the training grounds. So, at least there would be no collateral damage, but Fral was still uneasy over what could happen.

The elder looked at Drag'lan, backed up, and took out one of his smart-discs. He primed it and hurled it at Drag'lan within seconds.

Drag'lan was ready for this. He had known something was about to happen. In a movement stream that looked like nothing less than a blur, he had pulled out his short-sword, "Physique" and blocked the disc. The elder was surprised to see that the blade held, although the disc was embedded into the sword. Drag'lan then swung his sword down and stopped it abruptly, which jerked the disc loose and caused it to become embedded in the ground.

He looked at the elder, holding the sword loosely and said "What's next?"

The elder regarded Drag'lan with interest. How could he move so fast? He's not completely ooman, that much was for sure, but what exactly was he?

The elder simply pulled out another disc, primed it and hurled it at Drag'lan as well. Drag'lan dove to the left, sheathing Physique as he did and bringing out his pistol. The disc came back for another pass, and Drag'lan shot at it. The round hit, but the explosion only caused the disc to go off-course. It came back around for a third time, and Drag'lan shot it again. This time, the disc was blown back at the Elder. The elder dodged it and caused it to return to his hand.

He said "My judgments have been made. I will inform the other elders of what happened. Meanwhile, I would advise that you keep him out of trouble. If stuff starts happening without him being part of the clan, then he might be killed."

Fral exhaled in relief. She had half-expected the elder to attack Drag'lan again. Drag'lan just holstered his pistol and looked at Fral. He walked over to her, and Fral's dad held out his hand, having seen oomans use that gesture as a form of respect. Drag'lan took it and they shook hands.

Fral dad said "Well, well. It seems you've made an impression. Keep doing that and you might be allowed to join our clan."

Drag'lan remained silent, but smiled in his head.

_Looks like I'm effectively in now_ he thought.


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8-Out with the family

Fral turned to her dad and asked what the plan was for the night. Her dad said that the plan was that the entire family would go to the dining hall and have dinner. Drag'lan could follow, but would have to watch how he acted. When asked if that was alright, he only nodded. Fral told her dad that if they were going out, both she and Drag'lan would need to change clothes. Her dad said something about grabbing some of his own clothes and dropping them off in a bit for Drag'lan to try on.

Either way, Fral's dad walked off, and Fral opened the door to her home. They both walked in and Drag saw that Fral apparently preferred a modest life. There wasn't much around the place.

Fral gestured for him to leave his harness, swords and guns by the couch. Drag'lan undid the latches on his harness and set it against the couch. He then unhooked his gun holsters and set them against the harness.

He looked up and saw Fral looking at him. He asked "What? Is there something you want?"

Fral said "I'm gonna go take a shower. It might be best if you do too before we head out."

Drag'lan nodded and sat down on the couch. He said "You first. Call me when you're done. I'll be doin' some stuff with my swords in the mean-time."

Fral walked into the hall and disappeared. Drag'lan took out his swords and laid them on the floor. He saw blood stains on Regoll. He pulled out the ball of metal shavings again and started rubbing Regoll, cleaning it off.

"God damn it..." Drag'lan muttered, "Why does violence always follow in my wake? It never fails that when I go somewhere, there will be fighting."

Once his blade was clean, and that took a bit of time, he pulled out the second-finest whetstone from his case. He laid the blade down across his lap and started running the stone along the blade. After about 15 runs, he ran his thumb along the edge he had sharpened. It ran smoothly, so Drag'lan repeated this process for the other three edges. He finished with Regoll and moved on to Toxin. He repeated the process for all of his swords. Once he was completely finished, he heard footsteps. He looked up and saw Fral with a towel wrapped around her chest.

She gestured to the hall and said "Bathroom's open now."

Drag'lan looked at her and said "I said to call me, not walk out and tell me in person."

Fral shrugged and said "Force of habit, I guess. I've always told things to people in person if I could, so I did."

Drag'lan shook his head and said "It's fine, just saying you should've called instead of talkin' to me in person."

Drag'lan got up and walked past Fral. He heard her say "second door on the left." as he walked into the hall. He entered the bathroom and saw that there was an actual shower instead of a tub-like hollow in the ground. He stripped off all of his clothing and stepped into the shower. He noticed that it effectively had the same build of a normal shower. He turned the water on, set it to his preferred heat and felt the heat seep into him. He sighed with relief.

He ran his fingers through his hair and started scratching his head to clean it out. He looked down and noticed that the stitches in his abdomen had disappeared. In their places were scars.

_Must have been a bio-degradable suture, I guess..._ He thought, _Very possible, and I now have something else to show for being in combat._

Drag'lan rubbed his face and the back of his neck. He never expected things to happen as they did. Apparently, his father had, otherwise this wouldn't have happened. He had always known that his father had been mysterious, but hadn't expected this.

As Drag'lan continued washing off his body, he noticed how calm it was to him when compared to Fral's ship. Although there was little difference between the two, Drag'lan felt more at peace here than on the ship for some reason. He didn't know why, but he felt as if Fral was the one that truly could help him end the suffering he had to endure for his life.

It didn't take Drag'lan long to clean off his entire body. Drag'lan got out of the shower and grabbed a towel. He dried off his body and hair before sliding into his boxers and leggings. No matter what Fral said, he was taking his leggings with him, because he had to have his secondary combat knife with him. Drag'lan highly doubted that he would be able to walk around Lai'Kairis without getting in SOME form of a fight. In his father's words, "It always does well to have a weapon, just in case if your opponents have them."

Drag'lan never really wanted to have to fight, but would if he had to. Although he doubted Fral would approve of his choice, he didn't care. He wasn't about to let others decide how he would live his life. He also didn't want others to decide whether or not he would live in general.

Drag'lan walked out of the bathroom carrying his Marine shirt and greaves. He planned on leaving those here. He heard a door open behind him and turned around. He saw Fral in a light pink dress. She also wore a necklace with small gems. He thought she looked lovely, but wasn't about to say it. He turned around and walked down the hall.

As Drag'lan walked out of the hall, Fral noticed a symbol carved into Drag'lan's back. It was obviously very old, as the scar tissue lines were very thick. It looked like a scythe with wavy lines coming out from the slant below a diagonal line. The wavy lines crossed through the scythe blade and arced back through it. Fral couldn't help but stare at it. It spanned over the shoulder-blades and down to the middle of his back. She wondered how he got it, but wasn't about to ask.

Drag'lan sat down on the couch and put his hands behind his head. He sighed a bit, but knew that Fral was looking at him. He started thinking of what was going to happen with Fral's family. Her brothers and sister seemed fine, but her dad made him uneasy. The way he had doubted Drag'lan's abilities somewhat discouraged Drag'lan from trying to become friends with him.

And, speak of the devil, Fral's dad showed up, carrying a sack of what could only be clothes. He handed it to Drag'lan and said "Here. They should fit somewhat decently, as we have similar muscle structures, but they'll look a bit long on you."

Drag'lan got up, nodded and took the sack silently. He turned to Fral and said "You mind if I use your room to change in?"

Fral shook her head. She said "Not at all. Go ahead."

Drag'lan walked into the hall and into Fral's room. While in there, he opened up the sack and looked through the clothes Fral's dad had brought. He saw nothing that caught his eye early into the search. However, once he found a basic Pred shirt, he slipped into it.

Fral's dad was right; They did have similar muscle structures. The shirt probably covered a Pred's entire upper body, but with Drag'lan, it went down to the middle of his upper legs. He looked it over and decided to wear it. Better to wear something basic in a location where fighting can start. Easier to replace the gear that way. He also found a pair of what looked like basic sandals. He slid those on and looked at them. They were easily his size, but he also saw multiple leather bands. He wrapped one around each of his lower legs, forming rather basic but form-fitting shin guards over his leggings. He also wrapped some bands around his forearms, creating basic bracers. Since he was a brawler more than anything, he'd want these for protecting his wrists and forearms. Satisfied with what he had chosen, he walked out of the room.

Fral and her dad watched as Drag'lan walked out. Fral saw that he had chosen simple things to wear. She wondered why he had done that.

Her father noted this and said "Are you sure that's what you plan on wearing?'

Drag'lan nodded and said "It's better to have simpler things on in case of fighting and if blood is spilled. Then, it's easier to clean/replace."

Fral's dad shrugged and gestured to the door. "Very well then, let's go." He said.

They left Fral's home, sealing it behind them. They then started walking down the street. Drag'lan heard Predators making jokes about his choice of apparel, but Drag'lan tuned them out. He didn't have time to deal with idiots.

Fral noticed how silent both Drag'lan and her father were. It wasn't bad, but it didn't make her feel that good. She thought that either Drag'lan or her dad would start another fight.

Much to her surprise, her dad broke the silence and said "So, Drag'lan. How did you come to find my daughter?"

Drag'lan shrugged and said "Well, I had been put in the hive already, but got out. Then, after walking down a long hallway after hearing screeches and what sounded like Predator roars, I took out 3 Xenos. After that, I found your daughter trapped in the hive. I took out the egg near her and released her from the hive, knowing that if one egg didn't succeed, another one would."

Fral's dad looked at him with curiosity. "And how did you come to be there?"

Drag'lan shrugged and said "I was captured as well."

"How did you manage to escape?" Her dad asked.

"I may not look it, but I am pretty strong. I'm even stronger when under the effects of an adrenaline rush, which are normally caused by anger or my survival reflex kicking in. I used the strength of the adrenaline rush to get out of the, for lack of a better term, cell, I was in." Drag'lan replied.

Fral's dad looked at him with what could only be a Yautjan version of a smirk. He said "Any other things about you when you are under the effects of an adrenaline rush that I should know about?"

Drag nodded and said "Well, I tend to move faster, but most importantly, my pain suppression goes through the roof. I've been known to have been shot square in the chest and keep going. I rarely remember what happens when under the effects of an adrenaline rush, however. Also, I lose all control over myself when under the adrenaline rush, so if I go into one, stay out of sight."

Her dad looked at him still, now even more interested than before. "How did you come by those skills?"

Drag'lan shrugged and said "Something I inherited from my father. He also was the main person who taught me how to use my anger to my advantage."

Her dad knew something was lying deeper, and asked "What about the rest of your family? I would also like to know about them."

Drag'lan abruptly stopped. His eyes slowly grew black, but just as quickly as the change had started, the blackness receded. He resumed walking after returning to normal. He simply said "I don't want to talk about them."

Fral caught the tone in Drag'lan's voice. It meant "Don't go deeper if you value your life". She stepped in and said "Let's just say that Drag'lan's family went the way of my parents; They're dead."

Drag'lan looked at her and said "Your parents are dead as well? You never said anything about that."

Fral shrugged and said "Well, you didn't ask."

Drag'lan opened his mouth to speak, but closed it, knowing that she was right. He hadn't ever asked, and come to think of it, that would've been one good question to ask.

Fral's dad noticed how they acted around each other.

_They would make interesting mates. Fral is obviously interested in him, but he is either hiding his interest or is truly not interested. _He thought.

Fral looked back at her dad and said "So, how's everyone been while I was gone?"

Fral's dad said "Same stuff as always. Your older brother went out on a hunt and took out some Kainde Amedha. Nearly died himself. Also scored himself some ooman skulls. You know, the ones that have spread the Kainde Amedha to every planet they touch."

Fral growled with disgust. "I hate those Oomans. They think that the Kainde Amedha are creatures of some god, and treat the Khainde Amedhe . How can they be that stupid?"

Drag'lan caught word of the term "Kainde Amedha" and when they talked about how there were humans that spread them, he though of Xeno Extremists. He said "You guys talkin' about Xenos?"

Fral nodded. "What you call the Xenomorphs are what we Yautja call the Kainde Amedha, or Hard Meat. They are our most prized prey."

_So I was right when I assumed the "Kainde Amedha" referred to the Xenos_ Drag'lan thought.

Fral's dad continued talking to Fral, saying "Now, your younger brother has been showing promise to pass his Clan Rites. He's been training really hard to find his specialty, and it looks like he'll become like your older brother, a brawler. The only thing he has that contradicts brawling is his speed. Your sister has nearly driven your mother to murder as well, heh heh."

Fral laughed at this and said "Well, kids will be kids, right?"

Fral's dad also laughed and said "Yes, but you and your brothers weren't anywhere near the trouble that your sister is."

Drag'lan felt as if he were the black sheep of the group. While he somewhat understood what they were speaking, he remained silent and instead tried to focus on the surrounding sounds. He heard children laughing, crying, and people speaking in Yautjan. Those noises put him at ease to a point, knowing that there were many civilians near, meaning that the Yauta weren't all hunters.

Fral noted how disassociated Drag'lan was and said "Drag'lan, you seem down. What's wrong?"

Drag'lan shook his head and looked at her. He said "Nothing. I'm just not sure there is anything to talk about with you two."

Fral's dad shook his head and said "There is always something for everyone to talk about. Now come, tell me about what you did when you were in the Marines."

Drag'lan took a deep breathe. He never expected for Fral's dad to somewhat accept him so easily. He said "Well, I was part of a special squad of Marines. We were called the Reapers. Half the time, we'd be called in to take out Xeno hives that had overrun scientist labs. We had among the least deaths in our area."

Fral's dad said "Well, did you ever run into any Yautjas?"

Drag'lan nodded. "Once in a while, we'd end up in the middle of a Pred hunt, and we lost a person or two each time, but we always managed to kill the Pred. We'd move on and later, the body would be gone. I got this scar after one such encounter."

Drag'lan raised the tunic he was wearing a bit and showed them a scar on his side. It was a jagged line going at a downward angle along one of his ribs.

Fral said "What caused that?"

"Spear. The thrower must have been a really bad aim, because I never noticed it had scraped me until I felt something trickling down my side, looked at that area and found I was bleeding." Drag'lan said.

Fral's dad said "You have an endurance that few ever have shown."

Drag'lan shrugged and said "I always do that. Few people expect me to show any skill, yet I tend to outshine almost everyone I meet."

They would've kept talking about things that related to Drag'lan's time in the USCMC, but it was cut short by their arrival at the dining hall. Without a second thought, Fral and her dad entered, but Drag'lan hesitated. He turned around, looking around, feeling as if he were being watched. He saw something that looked like a blurred shape, but a second later, it was gone. Drag'lan shook the feeling off, attributing it to him just being paranoid, turned back around and entered the dining hall.

Upon entering the dining hall, The first thing he thought of was a bar. He heard people laughing, speaking with each other. He spotted Fral and her dad weaving their way through the tables and followed them. One Predator, which had about a full foot on him nearly crashed into him while walking over to its table, but Drag'lan merely twisted his body and kept moving. He saw Fral and her dad sit at a table with 4 others sitting at it along with another empty chair after they had become seated. He sat down next to Fral, which was where the vacant chair was located.

Fral's mother was beautiful in a "I will kick your ass if you cross me" sort of way. She stood about 7ft 10in by Drag'lan's estimates and had a very dark shade of brown for her hair color. Her eyes were an emerald green, which countered her mate's dark brown eyes. She stood up when she saw Drag'lan and bowed slightly in respect to him. Drag'lan returned the bow, having learned something like that from his father. He then sat down. He looked at the food and saw that it was arranged much like a thanksgiving table, meaning he could have seconds of things he liked or not. Finding nothing that he thought he would like, in order to find out what he liked and didn't, he grabbed a little bit of everything.

As he was eating, he heard music being played. He looked up from the piece of meat he was enjoying and saw that the person who was playing was Fral's older brother. Although he was very muscular, the gentleness with which he played his instrument, a harp-like item, amazed Drag'lan.

While Fral's brother played, Drag'lan listened to the music, and saw a forest on some planet where things were bright and colorful. After the song, everybody, Drag'lan included, clapped for him as he sat down after setting the harp down. Fral looked at Drag'lan and said "What did you think of Greth'ler's song, Drag?"

Drag'lan nodded his approval and said "It was very well played. If I am right, it had to do with how majestic nature is, right?"

Fral shrugged and said "Well, I wouldn't know about that, but if that's what you saw, that's what it made you feel."

Drag'lan looked at Fral's brother eating, and sensing some urge to play a song as well, stood up. He said "I know a song that could be played. Would you all like to hear it?"

Fral's mother didn't make any movements or sounds, but Fral's dad nodded. Fral nodded as well.

Drag'lan walked to where the harp lay and brought back the song his parents had taught him so long ago from memory. He picked up the harp, became accustomed with where notes were, closed his eyes and began his song.

Fral noticed the beat of the song right at the beginning. It was mournful, but held so much meaning. She saw a hunter coming home to their family, but finding them dead for some reason. She saw the pain in the hunter's eyes. She closed her eyes as well and as soon as she did, the song ended.

Drag'lan set the harp back down and returned to his seat. Nobody clapped for him, but he preferred it that way. Better to be in the back row with hidden skills than the front row with shown skills.

Fral opened her eyes and noticed that the entire dining hall had gone silent. She wasn't sure what about Drag'lan's song made them go silent, but nobody was making a sound. Then somebody said "How could a Ooman be in here?"

Drag'lan heard what the Yautja had said, but ignored it. He continued eating his food as if nothing had happened.

That same yautja kept going, standing up and saying "Well, if a Ooman is in here, there is only one thing to do. Kill it."

Drag'lan stood up at that point. He wasn't about to take insults from somebody who didn't know him. However, he didn't see the Predator grab a knife and throw it at him. He turned around and was hit in the left shoulder. His body jerked back a bit from the impact, and Drag'lan struggled to maintain control over himself.

He looked at the Predator that had thrown the knife and said "Really...You lack so much honor as to attempt to kill somebody when their back is turned? What happened to your 'code of honor'?"

After he said that, he gripped the handle of the blade and, while retaining eye contact with the thrower, ripped the blade out of his shoulder. He started bleeding into the shirt, mixing with the white to make the shirt slightly fluorescent blue. The thrower's mouth dropped as he saw the blue, as well as how nonchalantly Drag'lan had ripped out the knife. Drag'lan cleaned off the blade with a napkin behind him on the table and threw the knife back at the original thrower.

The knife went straight into the Predator's right upper arm. Everybody gasped at this. They hadn't expected that to happen. They watched as Drag'lan drew his combat knife and walked up to the Predator he had just hit. The Predator looked from him to the knife in its arm with a look that could only be fear. Drag'lan then stabbed his knife into the Predator's left upper arm.

The thrower yelled in pain and released a large string of Yautjan profanities as it was stabbed. Drag'lan casually leaned in and whispered "You know, that wasn't the wisest thing to do. I would normally have killed you over this, but given the fact that we're in a public place and it seems that I have humiliated you, I'll call us even."

After he said that, He slowly removed his combat blade from the Predator's arm, and carefully removed the serrated knife from its other arm. The arms had clean through-and-through stabs, meaning that nothing was damaged too much. Drag'lan grabbed multiple napkins and used them to bind the wounds he had made. He saw the Predator he was bandaging nod to someone, but turned around and started walking away.

He caught just a flicker of movement in the corner of his right eye and ducked reflexively. Good thing he did, because the next thing he knew, the Predator he had just bandaged was on the ground.

Drag'lan turned and saw another Predator, presumably the one that had tried to hit him, looking from the Predator it had hit to Drag'lan in shock. Drag'lan started to move back to Fral's table when he felt a hand on his shoulder. The arm spun him around, and Drag'lan used the momentum in order to make his stunning blow even stronger. He connected with his target, but his fist also connected with armor, meaning the blow wasn't anywhere near as effective as he had wanted. He felt a fist connect with his face and was sent into a table.

Fral and her older brother stood up to assist Drag'lan, but he got up and said "No. Nobody help me. This is my fight, and mine alone. I will see it done."

Her parents and younger siblings were frozen in place. Then her younger brother said "Kick his ass, Drag'lan!", but Drag'lan didn't seem to hear him.

Drag'lan looked at the predator who had punched him and saw they were about 7ft 6in tall. He started doing minute calculations in his head as to how much force he needed to put at certain points to bring down his enemy. He figured it out just as the Predator came barreling at him.

Drag'lan did a quick dodge to his left. He got up and gave his enemy a swiping kick to the legs, flooring the Predator. He then started walking back to Fral's table. He heard Fral say "Watch out!", so he whipped around. He saw that the Predator was charging him again. He inhaled deeply and slowly exhaled. The world started to slow down for him, and he swept his target's feet from underneath them again, but this time, he grabbed a hold of their right arm as well as their dreadlocks and used the energy from that fall to throw them behind him. They went flying into the wall head-first.

To those that were watching, what Drag'lan did was a blurred cycle of movements. They did, however see his attacker go flying into the wall head-first with a sickening crack. The Yautja fell to the ground, unconscious, as Drag'lan resumed walking back to Fral's table. He slid back into his seat.

Everyone just stared at him, and he didn't like it. He was so used to being someone that wasn't recognized at all that this attention was bothering him. He got up and quickly strode out of the dining hall, in search of a place to re-enter his area of zen.

He saw a place with casual waterfalls and sat down. He began his standard practice of calming the mind as well as the body and became as disassociated with the world as he was when meditating.

Fral had watched as Drag'lan had dealt with the two Yautja. She looked at her dad and said "Now you see why you shouldn't tick him off?"

Her dad looked at her with a shocked look and said "Yes. I do. He ripped that dagger out as if it were just a needle. I wouldn't want to be in a true fight with him."

Fral nodded and said "Yes. You saw what he did to the Bad-Blood. But, his strength stems from the family he has lost."

She stood up and said "I'm going to go find him. If I do, we'll be at my home."

Her dad and mom nodded their heads, and she caught her younger brother saying "Yeah, doing what?" with a slight snicker under his breathe, but she left the dining hall to look for Drag'lan. Dealing with her brother would have to wait for another time.

She wasn't searching for very long before she saw him at the base of a 20ft tall tree, sitting down. She walked up to him, squatted next to him and shook his shoulder gently.

Drag'lan came back to the present looking into Fral's eyes. They showed concern. Her face also showed some understanding.

She said "This is what I was worried about; somebody ticking you off and causing harm to somebody else."

Drag'lan nodded grimly and said "I know. I'm sorry, but I act out of instinct when it comes to dealing with this stuff."

"I understand. But if you could hold off on doing anything like that again, please do. Stuff like this could kill your chance at joining the clan." Fral said.

Drag'lan nodded again and said "Well, if you're here, I guess you were planning on taking me home?"

Fral nodded and said "Yes, I'm here to take you back to my house."

Drag'lan stood up and said "Very well then. Let's go."

Fral stood up as well and led the way back to her home.

They got Drag'lan's wound cleaned up after they arrived. They didn't need to use any of Drag'lan's salve, as Fral had better substitutes. After they did that, Fral's dad showed to get his clothes back. He said Drag'lan could keep the shirt that he had gotten injured in, but wanted the sandals and leather straps back. Drag'lan obliged.

Fral's dad also said "Elder Kal'Deris contacted me a couple of minutes ago. The elder council has given permission for Drag'lan to attempt to join the clan. His training is to begin tomorrow.

Drag'lan nodded in approval and said "Thank you for telling me this."

Fral's dad said "You're welcome. Let's just hope you can survive the clan rites. I hope you bring honor to your parents' memories."

He left and Fral gestured towards her bedroom. Drag'lan tried to protest again, but Fral pulled the same thing that she did when they had argued over whether he would share he bed on her ship.

_Déjà vu... _Drag'lan thought as he followed her.

They got into their bed attire, and Drag'lan waited for her to get situated before sliding under the covers. Fral was in from of him this time, and Drag'lan just laid there, until she slid next to him. He then slid his arms over her, and he heard a satisfied purr.

_Oh great... _Drag'lan thought. _Looks like I've got myself an admirer...just perfect_

He then put other thoughts out of his head and fell asleep.


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter 9 - The "Calm" Before the Storm

Drag'lan didn't have a vision that night, but he did have a very disturbing dream.

_Drag'lan was in the arena, fighting a Yautja. He was holding his own against it, with minimal damage being taken. Then he recognized the Yautja he was fighting and stopped going on the offense._

_He was fighting Fral. Her blows kept coming, and Drag'lan tried blocking them. He did well at fending off her blows until she extended her wrist-blades. She stabbed him square in the abdomen, driving them up under his ribcage. His blood poured out as she withdrew her blades._

_His vision faded to black soon after that..._

Drag'lan woke up with a start. He looked around, his eyes adjusting to the darkness when he noticed that he was still in Fral's bed. Fral was facing him, her arms around him and purring in a very content way. This somewhat calmed him down. He tried to slide out from underneath her arms, but they increased their grip, and he felt one of her legs move next to him. He decided to let her win this round and closed his eyes, falling asleep again.

~

2 hours later

~

Fral woke up, seeing herself embracing Drag'lan as if in a hug. She quickly let go and got out of bed. She was really embarrassed at what she had done. She knew she felt strangely about Drag'lan, but nothing to this extent. She walked over to her closet and nearly tripped over something on her way. She looked down and saw Drag'lan's fatigues. She neatly folded them and set them at the foot of the bed. She returned to her closet and chose her clothing set for the day: a simple shirt with a matching skirt that went down to the middle of her thighs. She then left the room and walked into the kitchen. After last night, she was sure that Drag'lan would be hungry.

~

Drag'lan woke up to find himself in the bed alone. He slid to the edge of the bed and stood up. He stretched, feeling his muscles relax. He was so tense after last night.

He looked at the foot of the bed and saw his fatigues there. He slid them on and walked into the hall. He smelled something good when he walked out. It was almost sweet, but not really sweet. He walked towards the room that the smell emanated from and walked into the kitchen. Like Fral's ship, the kitchen wasn't very different from a normal human kitchen. He saw Fral cooking something.

Fral turned around and saw Drag'lan. She smiled at him and said "Have a nice sleep? I figure you want something to eat after what happened last night."

Drag'lan nodded and said "I am hungry. Not sure what you Yautja cook for breakfast, so surprise me...again."

Both of them laughed at this. Fral was cooking eggs of a large bird-like creature that was bred specifically to gather these eggs. Fral was also cooking the meat of a boar-like creature. She pulled out a few fruits that looked like plums.

She was nearly done when Drag'lan had walked in, so he turned towards the table. There were 2 plates with eating utensils on it. Fral took the pans holding the meat to the table and split the meat up as evenly as she could. They both sat down and started eating.

Fral noticed that they were eating in silence, and that didn't really surprise her, but something seemed off with Drag'lan.

She looked at Drag'lan and said "What's wrong?"

Drag'lan had been in his own thoughts when Fral asked him what was wrong. He had been thinking about the blur he had seen the previous night. He looked at her.

"What?" He asked. "Oh, it's nothing. I was just wishing I hadn't had to defend myself last night."

Fral nodded and said "Me, too. But you did what came naturally, and there is no way for you to change that."

Drag'lan nodded. He knew she was right, but that didn't change the way he felt about it.

Fral ate a bit more before saying "So, today is the start of your training for the Clan Rites."

Drag'lan nodded and said "Yep. I don't honestly think I need training. I already know my stuff. However, it wouldn't hurt to spar."

Fral nodded and said "I know you don't really need any training, but you need to see which group of initiates you'll be put in. Most likely, you'll be put into a more advanced group, knowing your abilities."

Drag'lan felt some pride at what she said. However, he had another question.

"How long do I have until I have until my first training session?" He asked.

"About 20 minutes, give or take a couple. You'll probably have to run the obstacle course to see your prowess." Fral said through chewing a piece of meat.

"Obstacle course?" Drag'lan said with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh, just a random set of obstacles that you'll have to run through to test your strength and endurance. You'll be timed, so speed is important. I can't tell what the obstacles will be however, as they change every now and then." Fral said.

"Nice. I THRIVE on unpredictability." Drag'lan said with a grin.

They finished their meal in silence. After the dishes were cleaned, the pair left and headed for the training grounds.

Drag'lan noticed the silence that fell as he walked by some of the Yautja. Apparently, word about what he had done in the dining hall had spread.

The pair entered the training grounds. Fral left Drag'lan's side and stood near the wall.

Drag'lan fell in with the batches of other new recruits, for lack of a better term. The instructor walked up and said "So, this is the group I have to cull? This is gonna be easy. Get ready to know hell intimately."

The instructor then gestured towards the course. "This is the first test you will face."

Within minutes, Drag'lan had read the obstacle course like a book, He knew he have to take hits, but he figured he'd clear it in 2 minutes at the most.

The instructor looked at their faces and saw some nervousness. All except for the one that was about 6in shorter than the shortest initiate there. His face was impossible to read.

_Interesting…_ He thought. _The Ooman is unreadable. Normally, they're the easiest to read. This one is special._

"So, who's gonna be the brave volunteer and take their chance at the course?" He asked, somewhat already knowing the first one.

Drag'lan stepped out of line and stood in front of the instructor.

_I knew it. We might need a body bag..._ the instructor thought. _But let's give him a shot at it. He might just be good at the course._

Drag'lan stepped to the starting line. He waited, standing straight. The instructor raised a stopwatch and said "Okay. Your target time to beat is 3 minutes. GO!"

At the signal, Drag'lan shot out. He was like a bullet, flying towards the first target: a 30ft rock wall. The wall had small ledges and hand-holds. The target of this obstacle was to test the climber's grip and persistence.

Drag'lan was about 10 feet away from the wall when he leaped at it. He cleared not only 10 ft in length, but got 7 feet cut off of the height he had to clear. He was right next to a ledge and grabbed onto it. He let most of his weight become dead and used the strength in his arms and chest to send himself up another 10 feet. He repeated this until he was at the top. He then simply jumped down to the ground.

Drag'lan bent his knees on impact in order to absorb most of the shock. He then started running towards the next area of the obstacle course: The sets of swinging bags.

This had been the place that he knew he would have to take hits. The bags came at him in three areas: his head, his abdomen and his feet. He assumed that they were more set up for Yautjan body structures, which led to the ones on his head and abdomen be more set up for a Yautja's chest and abdomen. He got hit by every other bag, but used the force of the blow to spin and dodge the next one. Once he had made it through, he ran and slid across a mud ditch before jumping up onto the dirt again. He made a grab at a rope and starting climbing up. He hit the top and saw two ways of getting to the finish line: A) Zip line or B) ramp. Drag'lan chose the ramp, as the incline allowed for increased speed. He went shooting past the finish mark, skidding to a halt about an inch from crashing into the wall of a building.

The instructor looked at the stopwatch, blinked a bit, and his eyes widened. "I don't believe it. Your target time was 3 minutes, but your actual time: 1 minute 20 seconds! Aside from the Slayer, no Ooman has completed this course to my knowledge, much less beating a Yautja."

Drag'lan smirked. "Well, one learns fast that speed and endurance are essential for survival. If you don't have those, you die. Simple as that." He said.

~

Fral had watched as Drag'lan ran the course. She couldn't help but marvel at how fast he moved through it. She had heard of only one person move through it faster than him. She had heard of Alaric the Slayer. She had heard that he had completed the course in only 30 seconds. She wondered what would have happened had Drag'lan finished the course even faster.

An odd silence had fallen over the training grounds. Everybody that had been talking before Drag'lan had run the obstacle course fell silent as they saw him run it. The males couldn't stop their jaws from dropping. Many of them hadn't seen anything quite like what Drag'lan had done.

The females were a different story, however. Many of them, like the males, hadn't seen a performance like Drag'lan's, unless they had seen Alaric the Slayers. However, their actions differed from the males as the females started panting slightly. Fral was included in this, but she didn't care; It would be nearly impossible for anyone to tell that she was in with the group's actions.

Drag'lan walked back to the line with the other, fully aware that all eyes were on him. This time he didn't mind. He just laughed in his mind.

_Hopefully they finally see my abilities._ He thought.

One of the larger initiates, the top student in fact, had watched Drag'lan run the obstacle course. He had been second since Syl'vex had gotten his skull pretty much fractured by Alaric. His fastest time had been 2 minutes flat. Once he had effectively been declared beaten, he somewhat glared at Drag'lan. He stood up and started walking towards him, intent on vengeance.

Drag'lan both heard and felt the heavy footfalls approaching him. He turned to face whoever was walking towards him and saw a Yautja that was about 7ft 8in and pretty dang balanced for muscle.

The Yautja looked at Drag'lan in the eyes, and Drag'lan saw the fire behind the Yautja's eye. Thus, he knew what action the Yautja would take before it even started. Before the Yautja could raise his fist too high, Drag'lan had already charged up a haymaker blow and sent it into the side of the initiate.

His victim fell to the ground, winded, but otherwise unharmed. Drag'lan had wanted this. This was because he didn't want to be responsible for any permanent damage to the Yautja. Drag'lan backed up about 10 steps as the initiate got up. He was still intent on vengeance, and pulled out a combi-stave. He extended it and charged at Drag'lan, raising it.

_Son of a..._ Drag'lan thought. _Looks like he'll need to be taught why not to attack me like this the hard way._

The initiate swung the stave at Drag'lan's head, but the staff met Drag'lan's arms before it could impact his head. He had used the same tactic as he had done when blocking Fral's swing in their sparring match: Using his forearms to block the swing. The staff bounced off, stunning the attacker for a couple of seconds.

That was all Drag'lan needed. He grabbed a hold of the combi-stave and twisted, watching as the initiate's grip was broken. Drag'lan then pulled the stave towards himself and swung it low, sweeping the Yautja's legs out from underneath them. He backed up, holding the stave behind his back at the ready, in case he needed to defend himself again.

The initiate returned to his feet and looked at Drag'lan with hatred. Drag'lan read his opponent like a book again, knowing what action he would take. As Drag'lan had predicted, the initiate charged at Drag'lan. Drag'lan watched as the initiate approached and abruptly swung the stave. There was a loud _crack_ as metal connected with the bone of the initiate's head, sending him face-first to the ground, where he stayed, knocked clean out.

The instructor looked at this turn of events with wide eyes. Drag'lan had just taken down the top student after Syl'vex without even batting an eye! What WAS this guy? The instructor then stepped in and said "That is enough. You, and you," He pointed to two of the new recruits. "Take him to the infirmary. And you," He looked at Drag'lan, "I can tell that you have more skill than these others. There is nothing I can teach you. I will put word in for you to be advanced into a higher-level group. You may take today off to rest or observe. It's your choice."

Drag'lan set the combi-stave down on the ground and got back into the line. He felt a hand on his shoulder. He also heard someone whisper "That is a good way to bring someone down. You're going to make a great hunter."

Drag'lan turned around and saw Fral there. She had a look of joy in her eyes.

Drag'lan said "Yes, it is. I honestly wish it hadn't had to come to that, though. Also, you enjoyed the sight of me running the obstacle course didn't you? I heard panting in the background."

_How did he know?_ Fral thought. _Does he just have that honed of instincts?_

"I couldn't help it. Your movements show such grace." Fral said.

Drag'lan laughed a bit and said "Well, I do that inadvertently. Something I get from my mother. Well, anyway, let's head back home. There's nothing left for me to do here."

Fral nodded and Drag'lan saw even more joy in her eyes. He was now one step closer to joining her clan.

They both went back to Fral's house. Time had flown apparently, because it was already mid-day. Fral walked into the kitchen, most likely to cook up lunch, so Drag'lan stayed in the living area. He pulled out Regoll. He then pulled out the box of whetstones and retrieved the finest-grain stone from the box.

Regoll was the first target for sharpening. His swords needed sharpening every day. It was as if they grew dull as the day wore on. He had just finished sharpening Regoll when he heard footsteps. He looked up to see Fral looking at him.

"I might need assistance with lunch." She said "It's a creature I haven't cooked before."

Drag'lan set Regoll down and stood up. "Okay. Let's see what you've got."

Drag'lan followed her into the kitchen. On the counter was the creature Fral was talking about. The creature she was speaking of was covered from head to tail in a segmented shell. He had seen this kind of creature before.

"Looks like you've got yourself a Pygmy Anklyosaur. I know why you haven't cooked with it. Watch this." Drag'lan said as he walked to the counter, drawing his secondary combat knife.

He hit the creature all over the body, but his knife kept bouncing off.

"Okay. Now that you've seen what I meant by 'I know why you haven't cooked with it.' Now watch this."

Drag'lan then felt along the plates until he found what he was looking for: The very thin gap between the 2 plates that met at the base of its neck. He slid his knife into the gap until it lodged.

"If I'm right, then once I hit the butt of the knife, the plate the knife is under should go flying off." Drag'lan said.

Without any warning, he hit the knife. The plate popped off with a _thump_ and went flying into the air. He caught it and set it down on the table. "Come take a look at this." he said.

Fral walked up to him and looked at the inner part of the shell. Within the shell was a honeycomb network of bone in alignment with the animal's spine.

"That explains why whoever caught it had to shoot it in the head with their plasma caster. That bone must absorb the shock of impacts." She said.

Drag'lan nodded and said "Also explains why my blades did little damage. I've run into one of these before, but it was larger. Tore through one of the walls at the USCMC compound I was in. Everyone fired at it, but the bullets kept bouncing off. Then I hit it in the one place where It didn't have armor: Its eye. Man, was there a mess. I had hit it with my pistol."

"Either way, there's one plate down. The rest should be easy." He said, sheathing his combat knife. "Just use the tactic I had used and it should be done in no time."

He walked back into the living room and pulled out Toxin. He sharpened it just like he had Regoll.

He had just finished sharpening Toxin when Fral called him, saying lunch was ready. Drag'lan got up and walked into the kitchen. He saw that Fral was using the Anklyosaur's bone plates as makeshift serving plates. They were cleaned of all bone, which was good.

The meal was very tasty, which wasn't surprising one bit. They ate in silence, which was unnerving; Normally they would be chatting. Afterwords, Drag'lan suggested that they spar for a bit. Fral agreed and they walked out.

The pair walked quite a distance to a grassy field. They bowed to each other after reaching a reasonable distance apart. They then entered their combat stances. Once the signal was given to start, they charged at each other. Drag'lan decided to match Fral's speed this time, forcing her to fight him head-on as opposed to being able to out-maneuver him.

The pair were evenly matched, and Drag'lan won the first round, but called for a rematch. They repeated this for a few hours. During one match, Drag'lan felt the same sensation that he had at the dining hall; He felt like he was being watched. He glanced around, searching for the cause, and that action would cause his defeat.

Fral noticed that his attention was focused elsewhere, and decided to tackle him. Drag'lan was caught off-guard, which allowed Fral to pin him. He yielded, not affected by the loss. The pair got up and bowed to each 'lan then resumed his search of the surroundings. He caught the same blurred form. The form disappeared just as fast as it had last time, leaving Drag'lan uneasy.

_Okay, two times in two days...not a coincidence_ He thought. _Something is in motion..._

Fral looked at Drag'lan, knowing something was wrong. She walked up to him and put her hand on his shoulder. "What's wrong. I can tell something is wrong."

"Oh, it's nothing." Drag'lan replied. "Thought I saw something. My eyes are playing tricks on me."

The pair then started walking home. They chatted slightly while walking, but Drag'lan never brought up the blur he had now seen twice, as he didn't want to cause Fral to worry.

By the time they arrived at Fral's house, it was about time for dinner. Since Fral hadn't used all of the Anklyosaur meat, she cooked the leftovers. Drag'lan, not wanting to end up getting in the way, walked to the living room to finish what he had started. He picked up Physique and sharpened it. He then moved onto Ethereal. After he was finished, he walked into the bathroom.

When he walked into the bathroom, he walked to the sink and rubbed cold water over his face. he then held his hands there for a few seconds before lowering them. He looked into the mirror at his face. He wondered what was going on with him.

_I feel really odd whenever I'm around Fral,_ He thought. _Why is that...wait...No. It CAN'T be that..._

_Can't be what?_ The voice of his father said.

_It can't be that I'm interested in Fral._ Drag'lan thought.

_And why can't that be?_ His father asked.

_Because we're two different species_ He thought._ It wouldn't work out._

_Your mother was part Yautja, so how could you and Fral not work?_ His father replied.

_Wait a bit...back up...You KNEW my mother was part Yautja?_ He asked his father.

_Not in life, but when I died, I met your Yautja ancestor, and found out your mother's heritage._ His father replied.

_So, you're sure that if Fral and I end up together, that we'll work?_ Drag'lan asked.

_Yes, I do. But that begs the question, how will you proceed with this information?_ His father said.

_Well, I plan on holding it secret until I'm sure that Fral is interested in me as well._ Drag'lan said.

_Wise decision, but I believe she is interested in you. It is shown through her actions and her emotions when around you._ His father replied.

And with that, Drag'lan's father retreated from his mind once again.

Drag'lan came back to reality with a pair of arms over his shoulders and a pair of breasts, clothed but still breasts nonetheless, resting against his back. He then heard someone whisper "Dinner is ready."

Drag'lan heard her step back and said "Okay, I'll be out in a bit."

Fral left and Drag'lan stood there, shocked. How had she been able to sneak up on him!

_Ehh, whatever._ Drag'lan thought. _Shit happens_

Drag'lan walked out of the bathroom and headed into the kitchen. Fral was already setting the table. The meal smelled exquisite. He sat down at the table next to Fral and started eating. Fral noticed that Drag'lan's mind was elsewhere and decided to push the issue she had seen in the field.

"Drag'lan, what's wrong? You seem...distant." She asked.

Drag'lan looked at her. He might as well say it now. "When you tackled me in the field when we were sparring, something made me uneasy. When we had gone out with your family, I felt as if I was being watched, and the same feeling presented itself. I had seen a blur then, and I could've sworn I had seen a blur when we last sparred. I believe someone or _something_ is watching me."

Fral looked at him with wide eyes. She hadn't expected something like this to come up.

"Drag, why didn't you bring this up earlier? I could have helped you." She said.

"I didn't want to worry you. Besides," He said. "This is my problem. I prefer to deal with my problems on my own."

"That isn't the way hunters normally work. Sure, they work alone, but will accept help when it is needed, and I think you need as much help as you can get." She said.

"That may be, but I plan on mixing Regollen traditions with Yautjan ones as well. Regollen Brutes, which is the type I stem from, often work alone. Their strike teams are 3-man groups with 5-man squads. I also work better alone to a point, as it reduces the the chances of friendly fire." He replied.

"Either way, we need to take out this person watching you. It wouldn't do to have you die before you join the clan." She said.

"Yes, it wouldn't. However, if they attack, stay out of it. I fight my battles alone unless otherwise needed." Drag'lan said, serious.

Fral nodded. "Okay." She said.

~

The next day

~

Fral woke up the next morning with Drag'lan missing from the bed. She got dressed quickly and walked into the bathroom. Upon not finding him there, she walked into the living room. He wasn't there, and his harness wasn't there either. She walked outside.

It was nearly pitch-black. She could barely make out Drag'lan's shape in the darkness. He was holding a sword with glowing jade-green runes on it. The glow was so bright that she could see his face. It looked as determined as ever. As she watched, Drag'lan began swinging the blade in large arcs, the runes leaving faint green trails in the darkness. His swings were graceful as could be.

She continued watching, shocked. How could he swing such a large blade with such grace?

Drag'lan continued swinging his blade, removing one hand from it and drawing his other great-sword, not breaking the swing and began to swing his other great-sword with the same amount of grace. He then started speeding up, creating what looked like great trails of green in the swords' wake.

Fral couldn't stop her jaw from dropping. HOW can he do that!

Drag'lan eventually slowed down, and eventually stopped entirely. The environment was getting lighter. Fral thought that the planet was slowly beginning to start this areas cycle of day.

Drag'lan just stood there breathing deeply for a bit, just staring forward, before noticing that he was being watched. He turned to Fral and smiled.

"Did you enjoy that little show I put on for you?" He asked.

Fral regained her composure and said "Not intentionally. How can you swing such large blades with such skill!"

Drag'lan shrugged. "I don't know. It just comes naturally to me." He said.

Fral looked at him and said "You wanna come back inside? You'll need to have all your energy today."

Drag'lan nodded. "Right. Let's head back inside. I don't wanna stay in the dark too long, even though I feel more at home here in the darkness."

Fral looked at him, confused. "Why do you feel at home in the darkness?"

Drag'lan shrugged "It just feels more natural for me to be in darkness than light."

"Well, either way, it will be better if you come back inside. You don't want to give the person watching you more information, right?"

"Right." Drag'lan said.

The pair headed inside. Fral walked into the kitchen, going to prepare breakfast. Drag'lan sat on the couch. He leaned back, wondering what would go on during the day.


	11. Chapter 10

Chapter 10- The Storm

Drag'lan sat on the bench in the preparation of that Yautjan Arena in silence. He knew that today would be one of the main turning points in his life; Today, he had the chance to join Fral's clan. He thought back on the events of the previous day.

~

Fral's younger brother had sparred with Drag'lan while Fral and her mother watched. Drag'lan had the strength advantage, but Fral's brother was seemingly faster. The few shots that Fral's brother got in had little to no effect on Drag'lan. This was noticed, because Fral's brother tried out-maneuvering Drag'lan. He succeeded in getting behind Drag'lan, but Drag'lan spun and swept his feet out from under him.

After training with Drag'lan for weeks, searching for tips on how to become a better fighter, Fral's brother had learned how to use the momentum of one's fall to return to their feet. However, Drag'lan knew this tactic and anticipated it. He tackled Fral's brother as he got up. They continued doing maneuvers like this until Drag'lan won through a war of endurance. Both of them bowed to each other out of respect.

"You have used what I have taught to great effect. However, I know those moves. It is unwise to use a tactic on the person that taught you it." Drag'lan said.

Fral's brother hung his head, disappointed; he had never been able to beat Drag'lan. Drag'lan saw this and said "Look at it this way: If you find out your mistakes in a sparring environment, you'll be less likely to make them later on. Also, nobody wins every sparring match they enter. How you recover from such losses makes all the difference."

This cheered up Fral's brother a bit, but he still seemed down; despite having trained with Drag'lan for weeks, he still couldn't manage a win.

Fral had seen Drag'lan's actions and smiled. She could tell that Drag'lan had been holding back. If he had been fighting at normal levels, her brother would have been down within the first minute of the bout. She figured Drag'lan knew this and had scaled his ability usage down accordingly. That way, her brother wouldn't have lost as much self-confidence as he would have had Drag'lan used his full abilities.

Her brothers got along with Drag'lan very well, which pleased her. He didn't show it much, but Fral knew he liked having friends again. Now, Fral's parents were different stories altogether. Drag'lan and her dad had been in a constant silent battle. It was as if they had been competing for dominance. However, Drag'lan knew that Fral's dad had more experience in combat than him and, as such, could kick his ass. So, he backed down.

Fral's mom seemed to like Drag'lan well enough, but Fral knew something was off in her mom's actions. It was as if she doubted his abilities as well as his trustworthiness. After seeing him take down her son, however, she lost all doubt of his abilities. Distrust remained however.

Fral walked up to Drag'lan and her brother, holding two towels for them to dry off after their bout. Her brother accepted one, showing heavy signs of fatigue, while Drag'lan declined. Drag'lan didn't show any signs of fatigue, so Fral didn't push the idea. Drag'lan patted Fral's brother on the back again reassuringly and the trio walked into the shade, where Fral's mom was sitting.

Fral's mom nodded to Drag'lan in respect, but her body language showed disdain towards him. Drag'lan noticed this, and he decided to confront her about it.

Drag'lan drew close to her and whispered "Could I possible speak to you in private?"

Fral's mom shook her head and said "Anything you can say to me, you can say in front of my family."

Drag'lan inhaled deeply. It was time to come clean. "Very well then. Why do you dislike me so much? I mean, I can tell that you make a show of respect, but it's a lie. I can tell that you don't really want me around. Why is that?"

Fral's mom looked Drag'lan square in the eye and said "I'm not fully sure if I can trust you yet. You seem nice enough, but until I have concrete proof of your integrity, I will see you as a shady character."

Drag'lan nodded in pity somewhat and said "Very well then. I see."

Fral's mom then stood up and said "If you two are done sparring, then we might wan to head back. You **both** have a big day ahead of you tomorrow."

The group then left...

~

Fral walked up to Drag'lan and sat down. He looked at her indifferently. She said "So. Now it is time to prove your worth to the clan."

"I know. However, there are 2 things I must ask of you." Drag'lan replied.

Fral looked at him, her head tilted to the side in curiosity.

"Which is what?" She asked.

Drag'lan pulled off his dog tags and put them in Fral's hand. "Keep these with you. I normally stake a lot on keeping my individuality. These will give me a reason to fight."

Fral looked at the tags. They read "DHS-431I, Drag'lan Hellenille Sorrell. 'Death's Hand Soldier'"

Fral looked back at Drag'lan and said "What about the second thing?"

Drag'lan looked Fral directly in the eyes, a serious look on his face. he said "If at **ANY** time during the match, you see my opponent go down, but i keep attacking him, **stop the match**."

Fral looked at him, somewhat worried. "Why?" she asked.

Drag'lan looked at her with an even more serious look. "Let's just put it this way: What I did to the Bad-Blood on your ship will look like a bruise. That happened while I had control. When I don't stop attacking, it means I've lost control. The "Adrenaline rushes" increase my strength, speed and endurance. This you know. However, what you don't know is that I enter a rage mode that pumps my adrenaline production into overdrive. I only told your dad that I experienced adrenaline rushes so that he wouldn't think I'm unstable. There is little time before I am called up, so promise me to do these two things."

Fral looked Drag'lan in the eyes. Drag'lan thought he saw something of sorrow in her eyes before she nodded and said "I promise."

Fral then stood up and left. Drag'lan breathed with relief. He was now alone in the room, with only his thoughts for company. He entered his area of zen, so as to not go off on his opponent.

An enforcer enter the room and said "It's time. Follow me."

Drag'lan stood up and started walking behind the enforcer as they led the way to the arena.

The enforcer looked at Drag'lan over its shoulder and said "I've heard about you. I heard about what you did to that Bad-Blood and what happened at the dining hall. I must say, I'm impressed. However, I know your opponent. He has a great reputation for victory. I hope you can hold your own against him."

Drag'lan chuckled a bit. "I've held my own against worse. That bad-blood managed to stab me three times, so I think I can handle a battle with a standard Yautja with ease."

It was the enforcer's turn to chuckle this time. "We'll see about that." They replied.

They entered a small room with a large arched door. The enforcer turned to Drag'lan and said "Stay here. You will be called forth in time."

Drag'lan nodded as he leaned against the wall. He was as ready as he'd ever be.

~

Fral put Drag'lan's Dog-tags around her neck. They surprisingly fit. She walked to where her family was seated. They all noticed the tags around her neck, but her younger brother said "Where did you get those from?"

Fral looked at her younger brother. He had done surprisingly well. The worst injury he had sustained was a couple bruises on his chest because he seriously underestimated underestimated his opponent's speed and leaping capabilities.

Fral looked at the tags fondly and said "Drag'lan gave them to me. He said something about them giving him a reason to fight."

Fral's mom started to speak, but became silent as the High Elder stepped up. He raised his arms, calling for silence. He then addressed the crowd.

"This is once again an intriguing rite of passage. Once again, we are to bear witness to an ooman wishing to join our ranks. He has already proven himself worthy of this chance."

At this, he pulled out the head of the Bad-Blood Drag'lan had be-headed.

"He has proven his merit in combat by eliminating Gor'leesh and bringing down Hir'lang in combat. He has earned the chance to join us through combat, and will now prove himself further through combat."

He set the head down and faced the western gate.

"Will the warrior named Drag'lan step forth!" he commanded.

~

Drag'lan's ears picked up his name being called and he returned to standing. He saw the large doors open and walked forward, through them and into the arena. He continued until he entered the white ring in the center.

The crowd had remained silent until this point, but now they started booing Drag'lan and laughing at him. He blocked them out, not letting anything he heard get to him. He just looked around at the crowd and stared straight forward.

The High Elder called for silence again and said "Ooman, your chance has come. Do you have anything you would like to say before the rites proceed and your opponent is called?"

Drag'lan looked among the crowd again, his eyes slightly pulsing black with annoyance at their jeers. "Yes." He said. "It has never been a good idea to underestimate me. Don't do that today. I would hate to lose my temper to something as trivial as simple underestimation." After saying his stuff, he resumes his stare forward.

The High Elder then turned to face the eastern door.

"Will his opponent step forward!" he ordered.

The doors Drag'lan was staring at opened, revealing the Yautja he was to fight. Drag'lan's eyes widened at the sight of his opponent. This guy was MASSIVE compared to the other Yautja he had seen. If his estimates were right, his opponent was anywhere from 8ft 11in to 9ft 1in. He was also muscular to the point where Drag'lan wouldn't have been able to grab on with both hands. Drag'lan hadn't noticed the scars on the Yautja's body as he began walking forward, but now they were oh so obvious. The Yautja was nearly covered in them.

_Oh shit..._ Drag'lan thought. _THAT is much larger than I expected. Looks like I'll have to make stuff up as I go with this guy._

Both of them were dressed similarly, the difference being the clothing they wore on their legs. Drag'lan wore his marine fatigues, but the Yautja wore something to the effect of a pair of shorts. The Yautja walked next to Drag'lan and looked up, facing the High Elder. Drag'lan did the same.

The Elder then addressed the Yautja. "Leir'gorl the Indomitable, you volunteered to test this ooman's abilities. I am sure that you have seen what he has done."

"Yes, elder, I have." Leir'gorl said. His voice had a slight raspy growl to it, but it could be from the gash near his throat. "I relish the thought of fighting such a skilled warrior."

The elder addressed them both, saying "Then move to the lines and wait for my signal to begin."

The two combatants walked to the two lines at the edges of the middle ring. Drag'lan entered his more balanced of combat stances, a slight squat with his left arm down over his abdomen and his right arm over his chest. Leir'gorl entered what could best be called a sumo wrestler's stance. They locked eyes, waiting for the signal to start to be given.

The Elder's attention then shifted to the crowd.

"The clan rite will now proceed." he said "The victor will be decided when one of the combatants has been incapacitated or surrenders through submission."

Drag'lan mentally estimated the distance between him and Leir'gorl. he figured it to be about 30 feet. If Leir'gorl charged, as Drag'lan expected him to, he'd wait for him to get about 10 ft away before running forward and dodging to his left.

Fral looked at Drag'lan as he waited. His face was un-readable, but his body posture showed that he was ready for this. He really wanted to show his mettle.

The crowd held it's breath as the high elder drew a ceremonial dagger from its cloak. A Xenomorph skull was placed in front of him and he brought the dagger up. After a short pause that seemed to last FAR too long, the elder brought it down into the skull. An ear-splitting **CRACK** was heard as the match was signaled to begin.

Leir'gorl released a loud roar as he began charging at Drag'lan. The match had begun.

~

Drag'lan stood his ground as Leir'gorl began charging at him, stunning the crowd.

Fral's dad looked at Fral and "Looks like he's not going to last that long."

Fral looked back at her and said "You don't know him. He's had a lot worse opponents. Let's just put it this way: He's survived Zz'Gash levels that would have killed others in 10 minutes."

Fral's dad looked at her with doubt. "I don't believe that. Nobody has been found like that."

Fral nodded and said "Well, Drag'lan is. I have the knives that did the job at home. After the match, drop by and I'll show you."

~

Drag'lan had known that Leir'gorl would charge him. So he waited for Leir'gorl to hit the 10ft distance before moving. He was a blur when he dashed forward and dove to the left, avoiding the charge. As Leir'gorl rand past, Drag'lan kicked him in the side. This blow had no effect on his target, who turned to face Drag'lan and attempted to punch him in the head. Drag'lan fell back in an attempt to dodge the blow, but had his legs swept out from underneath him. He hit the ground on his back. Leir'gorl then tried to stomp on his head. Drag'lan noticed the action and rolled out of the way, getting to his feet as he did so.

The pair of fighters then started exchanging blows. Drag'lan was taking the full force of the blows, but Leir'gorl was taking smaller amounts. They kept this up until someone in the crowd yelled "Stop TOYING with him! End this!"

Leir'gorl looked at Drag'lan and smiled. It wasn't a good smile, more like a yautjan version of a demonic smile. He said "_Finally_. It's game time."

Drag'lan noticed that Leir'gorl's attacks started coming faster and stronger. He was barely dodging them. His eyes didn't show it, but he was unnerved as he realized what had just happened.

_Oh fuck..._ Drag'lan thought. _This guy was holding back this entire time._

Drag'lan then started to attempt to use what his father had taught him: When dealing with quick enemies, aim for the legs. So, Drag'lan starting aiming low. Leir'gorl noticed this and responded in a way that caught Drag'lan off-guard: He kicked Drag'lan. Drag'lan was sent flying straight into a wall.

Drag'lan slammed into the wall and fell forward onto the ground. It looked like he was out, until he started getting up. Drag'lan tasted blood in his mouth, and spit. A large glob of blue came out when he spit. He looked at it for a bit before he looked up at Leir'gorl. He was charging at Drag'lan again. However, this time Drag'lan was charging as well.

The two fighters met in the middle of the center ring and started throwing punches. Drag'lan was receiving more blows than his target received, but his endurance was slowly increasing. It didn't matter what Leir'gorl did to him. Drag'lan just kept going. This was a clear sign of Drag'lan's breaking point was drawing steadily closer.

All of a sudden, Leir'gorl caught Drag'lan's arm in the middle of a hay-maker blow. He then proceeded to twist Drag'lan's arm in an unnatural direction.

He arm bent for a bit. Eventually, Drag'lan's elbow dislocated with an almighty **CRACK**. His endurance blocked most of the pain, but enough got through to cause him to roar with pain. It sounded uncannily like a Yautjan roar.

The arena, which had been cheering for Leir'gorl, went silent as Drag'lan roared.

Leir'gorl's hand closed around Drag'lan's throat and lifted him up to eye level. He leaned forward, growled and said "You think you have what it takes to join this clan? You wouldn't last 10 seconds against the Kainde Amedha. How could you stand up against them if you can't handle me?"

Drag'lan's eyes widened at hearing this. This was what caused his anger to flare, releasing something he never wanted released. This was something deep within him, something that few ever want to experience, and even fewer survive. However, it came up regardless.

"DON'T...UNDERESTIMATE...ME!" He growled back. His growl was much deeper than his normal voice. This stunned Leir'gorl, giving Drag'lan enough time to take action.

Drag'lan's left arm shot up and he punched Leir'gorl with such strength that he released Drag'lan and was sent reeling back. He landed perfectly on his feet, his right forearm dangling limply, useless. The same thing that was awakened caused his vision to start to fade to black.

_Oh shit..._ Drag'lan thought. _This was what I was afraid of. I just hope that if Leir'gorl goes down, I don't kill him._

His vision went completely black as he grabbed his right arm and relocated it.

To most of the crowd, Drag'lan had just recovered from a loss and turned the tables. However, Fral thought differently. She had heard the roar Drag'lan had released. The sound, just the way it was, somewhat unsettled her. However, Drag'lan kept fighting, so she breathed uneasily. It looked like he was fine for the time being.

Leir'gorl reeled back after Drag'lan hit him in the head. He recovered and charged at Drag'lan again.

Drag'lan saw Leir'gorl charging at him and dove forward, greatly closing the distance between them. He then tackled Leir'gorl into the wall. Drag'lan then started to deliver multiple blows to Leir'gorl's torso. Leir'gorl felt pain, but powered through it and shoved Drag'lan, who was sent skidding back about 20 feet. Drag'lan then started charging at Leir'gorl, who dove out of the way. Drag'lan slammed into the stone wall.

He made a large dent and multiple cracks in the stone. He stepped back, unaffected by the impact. His body had multiple small lacerations from Leir'gorl's talons, but also some from powering straight into the wall. None of them bled, which unsettled Leir'gorl.

_WHAT IS THIS GUY?_ Leir'gorl thought.

Drag'lan looked at Leir'gorl and locked onto him. He then growled much like a Yautja when angered and lunged at Leir'gorl, flooring him. Drag'lan then proceeded to hit Leir'gorl in the head before being kicked off. Leir'gorl got up and tackled Drag'lan. This time, Drag'lan got floored, and Leir'gorl started pummeling him with blows to the head and chest. Drag'lan's strength had hit an all-time high, because with little effort, he lifted Leir'gorl clean over him and hurled him about 20 feet away. Drag'lan then sprang up. He grabbed Leir'gorl by the leg and flung him, one-handed, into the center ring.

There was an audible _thump_ as Leir'gorl hit the ground in the center ring. Drag'lan ducked and charged into the center ring, roaring with rage, as Leir'gorl got up. Leir'gorl had just gotten up and turned around when Drag'lan hit him.

Drag'lan's fist impacted with Leir'gorl's abdomen with enough force to cause Leir'gorl to spit up blood, which sprayed into Drag'lan's face. As it rolled down his face, Drag'lan hit him again, this time a hay-maker to the side. Leir'gorl crumpled to the ground.

Drag'lan leaped on top of Leir'gorl and started pummeling him with blows to the neck, head, and chest.

~

Fral saw this and gasped loudly. This was the sign in Drag'lan's warning! She turned to her older brother. "Greth'ler!" She said. "We need to pull Drag'lan off of Leir'gorl!"

Her brother looked at her and shook his head solemnly. "We can't." He said. "You know that once a match starts, there must be no interference."

Fral grabbed his arm and said "If we don't, Leir'gorl is DEAD! Drag'lan warned me about this happening. We MUST pull him off of Leir'gorl!"

Greth'ler shook his head. "I know I'm going to regret this," He said. "But let's go."

The pair of them stood up and ran down the stairwell to the railing and leaped into the arena.

~

Drag'lan was still pummeling Leir'gorl. His fists were caked with blood. Fral got him in a headlock and Greth'ler grabbed him around the chest. Together, they pulled him off of Leir'gorl and started pulling him away.

Drag'lan struggled briefly before bringing his elbow back into the stomach of the person holding him from behind. That person let go, and Drag'lan brought his fist down into the head of the person holding his chest. They went down, and Drag'lan leaped back onto the cause of his rage and resumed punching them.

Fral stumbled back after Drag'lan had elbowed her in the gut. She had just recovered and was starting to run back when she saw Greth'ler go down. He hit the ground after getting punched in the head by Drag'lan. She also saw him jump back onto Leir'gorl and froze.

_There's just no stopping him!_ She thought. _It's little wonder why he can handle so much damage. He's a JUGGERNAUT!_

The next thing she knew, Drag'lan was tackled by someone else, driving him into the wall of the arena. It was her dad. He had overheard Fral talk about what she and Greth'ler were going to do and followed them.

Drag'lan felt himself get driven into a wall, but expected some resistance this time. He brought his elbow down onto his attacker's head, HARD. Next thing he knew, he was hit with such a force that he was knocked clean out.

Fral had watched as Drag'lan had brought his elbow down onto her dad's head, nearly bringing him down as Drag'lan had done to Greth'ler. An enforcer came out of nowhere and had then hit Drag'lan square in the side of the head, knocking him out cold.

Fral's dad released Drag'lan and lowered him to the ground gently as medical teams came out to check on Leir'gorl and Greth'ler. The arena was silent as this all happened. Even the high elder was silent.

One of the medical personnel looked up at the high elder and shook its head gravely. The elder nodded and said "Drag'lan is the victor."

The arena was silent until Fral's family started cheering Drag'lan's name, and it slowly spread as people saw his abilities and respected his battle. The high elder called for silence, which was immediately given.

The elder then said "It is also with much regret that Leir'gorl has died from the injuries he has received."

The crowd was silent until someone yelled "Kill Drag'lan! Leir'gorl MUST be avenged!"

Fral steeled her nerves at this and yelled "It was not Drag'lan's fault! He enters this state as a response to life-threatening situations, extended combat or intense pain, be it physical or psychological. I have seen this happen, and he does get this savage."

The person calling for Drag'lan to be killed started to speak, but the elder said "Leir'gorl also knew the possible outcome when fighting a berserker. As such, Drag'lan will not be killed nor have retribution brought upon him."

Fral exhaled with relief; Drag'lan was going to be part of the clan. She knew he would want to start meditating when he came to, and the best place to do so right now would be her house, as it was the most peaceful place she knew. She picked up Drag'lan much like she would a child and carried him back home. She immediately took him to the bathroom to clean the wounds he had acquired, but most had healed at this point. She figured his body would knit itself back together in time, so took him to her room and layed him down on the bed. She left the room to find something to do while she waited for him to regain consciousness.


	12. Chapter 11

Chapter 11 - In the Brute's Wake

Fral was looking over Drag'lan, waiting for him to awaken, when her dad popped in. A large bruise was beginning to form where Drag'lan's elbow had met his skull. Her dad was dealing with the obvious pain very well.

He looked at Drag'lan and shook his head. He said "I saw the fight between Alaric the Slayer and Vyl'kar. Drag'lan fought somewhat like Alaric today. However, there is one clear difference between them. Alaric stopped just shy of killing his opponent, yet Drag'lan never ceased delivering blows. He fought like a beast in the ring. Why did he not stop when you and Greth'ler pulled him back?"

Fral shook her head. "I don't know." She said. "But he did warn me that something like this would happen. I didn't know exactly what he meant though."

Her dad looked at her. "He did?" he asked, curious.

"Yes." Fral said. "But this I don't get. Why did he chose me to warn of this?"

"Well, he does seem to want to open up more around you. You're also the one he seems to trust the most out of our family." Her dad replied.

Fral thought back on this, and saw that he was right. However, why does he trust her so much?

Meanwhile, Drag'lan was having what would probably be the most illuminating dream yet.

_He was in a hive. However, there weren't any Xenos around. He saw 2 figures in the distance. He walked towards them. Once he got somewhat close, he saw that they were his father and Herol'Frag. They were both fully clad in armor and looked as if they had been expecting him._

His father looked furious with him as he said "What the FROYL happened in the arena! I thought your mother and I had taught you how to control your anger!"

"I don't know what happened back there. After he dislocated my elbow, something just...snapped, in my head." Drag'lan said.

Drag'lan's father brought his fist back and moved to punch him in the chest, but Drag'lan merely parried it.

"Dad, you trained me in hand-to-hand combat since I was like 3. I think I can keep you from hitting me." Drag'lan said.

Drag'lan's father lowered his fist. "Yes. Apparently, you can."

Herol'frag chose to step in at that point.

"Alright, you two. Stop this. This isn't why we came." he said.

Drag'lan's father stepped back. "You're right. It's time for him to know the full extent of his abilities."

Drag'lan was confused. What did his father mean by that?

"Now, Drag'lan, there is something you must know about your Brute heritage." his father said. "There is a rare form of rage that Brutes sometimes go through. This is called a 'Fixated Rage'. While in a Fixated Rage, you will only focus on one target. Even after their death, you will continue attacking them. This won't stop until something causes you to cease moving, be it temporarily or permanently." His father said.

Drag'lan nodded, knowing this to be true.

"Also, while in a fixated rage, you will do just about anything to break free of those that hold you back."

"But why do we Brutes do this?" Drag'lan asked.

"Genetics. simple genetics." His father replied. "It's just something we do naturally."

"Either way, you acted much differently from other times. In that arena, you acted like a BEAST. While Brutes do that, your mother came from the Guardians. They tend to have more control over their feelings than Brutes." His father continued.

"Well, is that all you wanted?" Drag'lan asked.

"Not quite." Herol'frag said. "Soon you will meet the person whom you passively despise."

"Why are you so cryptic?" Drag'lan's father said. "Why not just say what you want him to know?"

"Because then the words won't have meaning." Herol'frag replied.

The pair then faded out as Drag'lan's view blackened.

Fral was just walking into the room when Drag'lan stirred. He was just turning over on the bed, but was showing signs of consciousness. She rushed to his side and said "Drag'lan, can you hear me?"

Drag'lan's eyes opened slowly. "Fral, where am I?" he asked.

"You're safe; You're in my house." She said.

"What happened during the Clan Rites?" Drag'lan asked.

"You went completely berserk. Killed Leir'gorl." Fral said.

"Fuck..." Drag'lan said. "Please tell me it wasn't too bad."

"If by 'it wasn't too bad', you mean a pulverized neck and multiple compound fractures to the skull, then yeah, it wasn't too bad." Fral said gravely.

"SAFVA GROYL U KOY! I knew something like that was going to happen." Drag'lan said.

"I don't wanna think I wanna know what you just said." Fral said, somewhat amused.

"Trust me, if my mother were still alive, and she heard me say that, I'd be in for it." Drag'lan replied.

He then sat up and put his hand to his head.

"Damn. My head feels like someone hit it with a rod of solid steel." He said.

"An enforcer hit you square in the head. I would be surprised if you didn't feel anything." Fral said.

"Don't forget to tell him what the results were." Fral's dad said as he walked in.

"Oh, right, I forgot. You passed the clan rites from what the head elder said, Drag'lan." Fral said.

"Great. Just what I wanted to hear. What about your brother, though?" Drag'lan said.

"Oh he was victorious as well. He'll be inducted into the clan in a few days most likely." Fral said.

"That's good. Now, tell me, what EXACTLY happened after I went berserk." Drag'lan said, now serious.

Fral's dad stepped forward. He looked serious as well.

"You were brutal. After you started going berserk, you went slamming straight into the wall of the arena after charging at Leir'gorl. From what I heard, you made quite a large dent in the wall and cracked it even further." Fral's dad said. "After that you floored Leir'gorl before he returned the favor, but you flipped him over your head effortlessly. You then hurled him, ONE-HANDED, to the center of the ring, which was easily 30 feet."

"Damn it...my adrenaline rushes make me SUPER strong..." Drag'lan said under his breathe.

"You then charged at Leir'gorl and punched him in the gut. Then you hay-makered him in the side, causing him to fall." Fral's dad continued. "After that, you jumped on him and pummeled him. I don't think he lasted much longer after that."

"Safva groyl u koy...I did more damage than I thought..." Drag'lan said quietly.

Fral's dad said something about checking on his mate, and left.

Drag'lan got off the bed. His head was feeling better, but he still felt the sting of the blow.

"How long was I out for anyway?" Drag'lan asked.

"About 2 hours." Fral said.

"Well, what's the plan for now until I go on my first hunt?" Drag'lan asked.

"Not sure, to tell you the truth. I know you need to be inducted into the clan however." Fral said.

"How long until I'll be able to be inducted into your clan?" Drag'lan replied.

"I'm not completely sure. You may not be allowed to fully join the clan at all." Fral said.

Drag'lan sighed. He knew what could keep him from joining the clan. It was the fact that he killed a Yautja in the arena.

It turned out that Drag'lan was actually going to be inducted into the clan. Upon close examination, Leir'gorl was actually found to be a Bad-Blood by the Elders. This information allowed the elders to overlook what Drag'lan did to him, as it would've been either Drag'lan or the Bad-Blood in the end. Two nights later, Drag'lan underwent the induction. He stood at the temple, knelt before the High Priestess and the High Elder read the clan rite transcripts.

It was done, Drag'lan was now fully part of the clan. Fral hadn't been as happy as she was that night in her entire life.

The next day

Drag'lan sat in the living room of Fral's place. It was hard to believe that he was part of the clan now.

Fral walked up to him.

"Drag'lan," She said, "My brother's group won't be ready to hunt for a while, so I was thinking of getting you some armor made. What do you think of that?

Drag'lan shrugged. He didn't care honestly.

"Very well. Let's head to the smith to see what he can do to make you some armor." Fral said.

Drag'lan shrugged again. "Fine." he said. "I'll need something to draw with first, though, as I plan on having a custom armor set."

"Okay, here you go" Fral said, pulling out some paper and handing him an item that could only be a pencil, only sized for a Yautja.

Drag'lan took them with a word of thanks. He then sat down and started thinking. He tapped his chin a bit, thinking on how to design his armor. Something came to his mind, and he snapped his fingers and began drawing. He dragged the pencil across the paper in straight lines, getting the basic design done. He then tried to get the raised parts of his armor to be shown. It didn't go too well, so Drag'lan erased them. He started with his chest-piece, then added in his idea of shoulder covers, as well as bracers. His next target was then the leg-plates. He finished off with his greaves and boots. His gauntlet, greaves/boot, and shoulder plate designs had what were best described as spikes on them. The ones on the shoulders were the most pronounced. He set the pencil down and looked at Fral.

"What do you think?" He asked.

Fral walked over and looked at his drawing. She nodded. "Not bad. Though I must ask. What are those spikes for?" she said.

"The spikes are something that some Regollen use for secondary weapons. The ones on my shoulder-plates are for if I decide on charging at my enemy. The others are for assistance in hand-to-hand combat. The ones on the gauntlets are meant to be driven back behind me, while the ones on the boots are meant to be driven into an enemy by kneeing them." Drag'lan said.

"Fair enough, but I doubt the smith would be able to make them too sharp." Fral said.

"That's what these are for." Drag'lan said, pulling out the small box containing the whetstones.

"What's inside the box?" Fral asked.

"Just a set of whetstones made from the rock on the planet we met on." Drag'lan replied.

"How sharp can they make stuff?" Fral asked.

"Oh, it varies from stone to stone. These ones," He said, pulling out a light brown stone, "can sharpen stuff, but not very well. The stones increase in sharpening ability to these ones," He pulled out a white stone after saying this, "Which can sharpen blades to the point where they can be as sharp as your wrist-blades, or so I've been told."

"Did you use the white one on your combat knife?" Fral asked.

"Yes. Why do you ask?" he replied.

"Because if so, then they are as sharp as our wrist-blades, because your combat knife was what sliced my hand, remember." Fral said.

"I remember that clearly. Well, the knife is sharp enough, then. However, let's see what the smith thinks of the designs I have. They're more like Regollen armor, mind you." Drag'lan said.

"I don't think it will matter much, but okay. Let's go." Fral said as she stood up.

Drag'lan stood up and put on his harness, and he only put Physique and Ethereal in their sheaths. He didn't know why but he felt as if he'd need them today. He left Toxin and Regoll there, as well as his guns. No need going out looking as if you're searching for a fight.

The pair stepped outside and sealed the door behind them. Drag'lan caught that SAME blur again, but this time, he was ready. As it seemed to disappear, he saw it run down the street, and dashed after it, drawing his swords as he went.

Fral saw him take off and started dashing after him. She knew he had seen something that time, and was intent on finding out what he had seen.

Yautja saw him coming and hastily got out of the way. Drag'lan kept his eyes locked on the blur as he ran, making sure to keep it in his sights. He saw it run into an alley of sorts and get itself cornered. He approached it and saw as it uncloaked that it was another yautja.

The yautja stared at him beneath its mask. How had Drag'lan managed to follow him so well!

Drag'lan stared at the yautja and noticed that it decently armed. He noticed only 3 weapons: a set of wrist-blades, a Plasma Caster and its spear. The yuatja entered a combat stance, and Drag'lan entered his. He saw three dots appear on the wall next to him and they traveled to his chest. He saw the plasma caster heat up and dove to the left to avoid it. The plasma caster went off and the yautja leaped onto a building and attempted to scale it.

Drag'lan saw this, sheathed his short-swords and leaped at the yautja, grabbing onto it's waist and causing it to lose its grip. This, in turn, sent both of them falling to the ground. Drag'lan's short-swords got stuck into the ground, so he unlatched his harness and sprang up.

"I suggest you tell me why you were watching me, _now_." He said

The Yautja looked at him, extended its wrist-blades and said "Ell-osde' pauk, ooman!" before proceeding to charge at him.

Drag'lan chuckled to himself.

_Wow..._ He thought, _Deja Vu..._

Just like in the dining hall, he inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly. The world seemed to slow down for him. He sidestepped the charge and kicked the yautja's legs out from underneath them. The yuatja hit the ground hard and Drag'lan pinned it there with his boot.

"Do you wanna rephrase that response?" Drag'lan said.

The yautja just growled as it struggled against Drag'lan's boot, but said nothing.

Drag'lan put more pressure on his boot, grinding the sole into the yautja's back. He heard the yautja's growl become laced with pain.

"Are you sure?" Drag'lan asked.

Fral caught up with him and saw what was going on. "What the heck is going on?" She asked.

"Oh, hey Fral. Just found the person that's been watching me." Drag'lan said.

The yautja he had pinned continued to struggle against Drag'lan.

"Go to hell, ooman." It growled.

"I don't plan on going there anytime soon, you coward. Now, I'm gonna give you a chance to regain your honor. I suggest you take it." Drag'lan said. He had just barely reduced the pressure on his boot when it acted.

The yautja broke free this time. It did so, but only because Drag'lan had loosened the pressure on his boot. It placed its hands on the ground and shoved, pushing Drag'lan up as it did.

Drag'lan hadn't expected that to happen, but that shock was short-lived. As he was risen above the ground, he leaped backwards, landing perfectly on his feet. The yautja rose to its feet and charged at Drag'lan again.

Drag'lan sighed.

_Well, this isn't going to end well._ He thought. _Might wanna get it over with quickly._

The yautja made a wild swipe at Drag'lan, but he just ducked underneath the blow and hit the yautja in the stomach with his right hand. It did what he meant for it to do: It caused the yautja to fall to its knees. He then delivered a punch to the back of its head, which knocked it out.

He then grabbed the yautja by the legs and hauled his ass out of the alley. Yautja in the streets were shocked to see him dragging an unconscious yautja out of an alley.

Fral sighed to herself.

_He has such an unorthodox way of dealing with spies._ she thought. _Now it's time to play damage control._

She stepped out of the alley. Other yautja were even more shocked at the sight of this.

Fral looked at the bystanders and said "It's alright. Just a slight misunderstanding."

They just stared at Drag'lan, who dropped the yautja's legs and walked back into the alley, so that he could get his harness.

The harness was still stuck in the ground, so Drag'lan just gave it a good tug and it came free rather easily. He put it back on and locked it again. He then walked out of the alley and back into the street.

When he got out there, the yautja was still there, as expected. He looked at Fral and said "Shall we continue to the smith?"

Fral nodded. "Yes. Anything to get away from the crowd." she said.

The pair resumed walking down the street. Drag'lan seemed to make so many yautja uneasy as he passed. What he had done to Leir'gorl had spread like wildfire, so he was somewhat feared by many. Drag'lan somewhat preferred it that way. It meant that they would leave him alone, hopefully.

Fral was silent as they walked into the forge. She saw the forgemaster, Val'hariz, walk out, wringing his hands. He froze when he saw Drag'lan.

"I knew you'd find your way here eventually." Val'hariz said. "You're here to get a personal set of armor, I take it?"

Drag'lan nodded. "Yes. Here are the basic designs I came up with. Hopefully, it can be done." he said as he handed over the folded piece of paper containing his armor design.

Val'hariz unfolded the paper and looked over it. His eyes widened as he saw the specifications.

"I'm not sure if this will be possible. I think that standard Yautjan armor should be used instead." He said.

Drag'lan shook his head. "No, this is what I want my armor to be. I don't plan on cloaking at all. So, if I don't cloak, then why not have thicker and larger armor?" He said.

Val'hariz just looked at him. "What do you mean you don't plan on cloaking? Every hunter has a cloaking system. Even the Slayer has a cloaking system." he said. "Besides-"

Drag'lan locked eyes with the forgemaster. "I am a brawler. I prefer to be staring my enemy square in the face when fighting as opposed to sneaking around. So, I have no use for cloaking. Please just try to make the armor." He said, steadily growing annoyed, which showed in his voice.

Fral was amazed at what was going on. Nobody, to her knowledge, had argued with the forgemaster.

Val'hariz sighed. "Very well. I'll try, but on one condition. You will assist me in the creation, because I haven't made anything like this before." The forgemaster said.

Drag'lan nodded. "That will be fine with me." he said.

3 weeks later

Fral and her brother Ter'thig were standing outside the armory, waiting for Drag'lan to come out in his armor. Val'hariz had been working with him for the past 3 weeks on Drag'lan's armor set. They were near to being finished, because Drag'lan was becoming somewhat excited. This made them somewhat anxious to see what his armor would look like when finished.

They heard some noises coming from the armory, then some clamps. They then heard movement. They also heard Drag'lan say "Very nice. Good range of motion, light-weight. You really earned the title forgemaster." Before they heard metal hitting the floor. The door to the armory opened and Drag'lan stepped out. Both of their jaws dropped.

Drag'lan's armor was a lot more bulky than they had thought. It was barely 1in thick, but it was thicker than they thought it would be, and the spikes/blades made him seem a lot more intimidating. His shoulder plate had blades that were curved up and out. They seemed to be like 3 or 4in long.

Fral stared at him in his armor. Apparently, the design didn't fully transfer over to the final product. He had a large chest-plate which covered his torso above his waist. His shoulder-plates covered his shoulders and the outer part of his chest. He had no guard on his upper arms, but that didn't matter. His gauntlets were in the normal Yautjan style, with his right containing a set of wrist-blades and his left containing the computer that would link up with his mask and armor. As he said, there were about 2in spikes coming off where his gauntlets started covering his elbow. They seemed blunt, but she knew that appearances are deceiving. Drag'lan's leg-plates covered his thighs. He had what could be best described as sabatons going from his feet to about 3in over his knee. The part that covered his knee was a mix of knee-guards and spikes. They differed from his original designs, which had had only spikes. She liked the look. He didn't have a mask, but he looked fine without it.

Drag'lan looked at them. "So. What do you think?"

Fral looked into his eyes and said "It really fits your personality. The armor looks like it fits you perfectly."

Drag'lan nodded. He was glad that Fral approved of his armor design. "It looks like we'll have to wait to see what my mask turns out to be like. Val'hariz said that he'll make the mask personally. But that's beside the point."

Fral looked at him, curious about something. "Drag'lan, were you serious about not planning on using a cloaking device in your armor?" She asked.

Drag'lan looked at her. His eyes said the answer without him having to use words.

Fral looked somewhat sad at this. "It's rather disappointing to think that you won't be fully embracing our styles."

Drag'lan looked at her and said "I'm a Brawler. I have no use for stealth. To the Regollen, unless they are an Ambusher or Hunter, the use of stealth was dishonorable."

"Also, as I told you a while back, I plan on mixing both Regollen and Yautjan styles. This is going to be one of those things that I'm mixing." He said.

Ter'thig looked at Drag'lan's armor in awe. He hadn't been around to see what Drag'lan's designs for his armor were, so the finished product blew his mind.

He looked at the blades on his shoulder-plates with curiosity. "What are those blades for, Drag'lan?"

Drag'lan chuckled. "They're for impaling enemies that are dumb enough to provoke me into charging." he said.

Fral's brother winced. "Ouch. Sounds painful. Also, doesn't that armor feel heavy at all?"

Drag'lan shook his head. "Not in the slightest. Regollen armor is much heavier than this stuff. I could probably run with this stuff on for about 6 hours straight and not feel fatigued."

Fral's brother gaped at him. "I heard you were tough, and now I can see why."

Drag'lan turned around. "Well, I'm going to go take off this armor. It wouldn't do too well to use the armor too much right off the bat. I want this to be somewhat secret."

Both Fral and Ter'thig nodded, knowing this to be correct. Drag'lan went back into the Armory and took his armor off. The trio then walked out, going to head to Fral's place to hang out.

Drag'lan noticed again how people seemed so on-edge around him. Then he noticed someone they seemed even more on edge around. He saw that the person was a human.

He turned to Fral. "Who's that guy?"

"That's Alaric the Slayer. My dad said you fought like him when you underwent your fight in the Arena. They say he took out Sil'cais the Scourged, the most infamous Bad-Blood, and a known serial murderer and rapist." Fral said.

"Do you know anything about his past at all?" Drag'lan said.

"Not in the slightest. Nobody, to my knowledge, truly knows Alaric's past, aside from the fact that he kicked the living shit out of Vyl'kar the Vast and Sil'cais. Rumor has it that he's part Yautja, but he seems to only like 1 or 2 Yautjas. He shows a lot of disdain towards those that show dishonor, just like you. That is the extent of my knowledge."

Drag'lan thought for a bit, rolling the name "Alaric" over in his head. Then it hit him; Alaric was the name of the person the Yautja that had taken out his USCMC squad were searching for.

_"They're not the ones with the boy named Alaric."_

He didn't know why, but he had to talk to Alaric. However, something else wanted him to attack Alaric. He strained to retain control, until the images of his dead squad came back into his mind. Something snapped in him, and he blacked out.

When he came to, he was in a bed in the infirmary. Fral was next to the bed, accompanied by Ter'thig, Greth'ler, and Fral's dad.

Fral's dad looked at Drag'lan and said "What the HELL were you thinking? Few people could survive what Alaric did to you!"

Drag'lan looked at Fral's dad, confused. "What happened? I don't remember a thing."

Fral looked at him, worried. "You did something I doubt anybody would do: You blind-sided Alaric, punching him in the side of the head. I saw the entire thing. You did pretty well for yourself, until he roundhouse kicked you to the head. You collapsed after he did that. Ter and I brought you here to recover. All that dropped by asked what happened, and when I told them, they were all shocked that you survived, and even then only with a slightly fractured skull."

Drag'lan shook his head, feeling something like a headache coming on. "Oh, Chrystoll Frolier. My head hurts like hell. What shape was Alaric in after everything was said and done?"

Fral looked at him, smirking somewhat. "Why not just ask him yourself?"

Someone stepped out from behind the group, and Drag'lan saw Alaric the Slayer. He was about 6ft even from what Drag'lan could tell. Alaric had spikes for hair like his, only longer, reaching down to the middle of his thighs, whereas Drag'lan's reached only his shoulders. He didn't seem so strong as he was made out to be, but neither was Drag'lan. Drag'lan saw Alaric's eyes and was somewhat surprised; He hadn't seen a human with scarlet eyes ever before.

Drag'lan coughed slightly before saying "I owe you an apology. I attacked you without provocation, reason, and without honor."

Alaric just looked at him, staying silent. Drag'lan was somewhat compelled to explain further.

"I don't know what drove me to attack you as I did, but that doesn't matter. It happened, and I am apologizing for it. Hopefully, at a later time, we can engage in honorable combat." Drag'lan said, keeping eye contact.

Alaric didn't say anything, but turned and left the infirmary. Drag'lan watched as he left.

"Okay, did he say anything while I was out?" Drag'lan asked the group.

Fral shook her head. "Not that I remember. Dad, what about you?"

Fral's dad shook his head as well. "Same here."

"Great. So, how long was I out this time?" Drag'lan asked.

"Only 15 minutes, by my measurements." Fral said.

Drag'lan went to the edge of the bed. His body felt fine, with the exception of his head. The headache was slowly receding, but was still there. He stretched a bit, and stood up.

He turned to Fral and said "Let's go. I need to sharpen my swords again. Hey Greth," He turned to Greth'ler at this, "You wanna see what I'm like in non-competitive combat?"

Greth'ler shrugged. "Why not? I still need to see how you fight under normal conditions. However, shouldn't you rest for a bit more until moving?" His English had improved greatly as time had passed. He was doing quite well with pulling sentences together.

"Nah. This headache will go away in a short amount of time. Let's go spar." Drag'lan said with a smile as he started to walk out of the infirmary.


	13. Chapter 12

Chapter 12 - Teaching Respect and the Arrivals

Drag'lan stood next to Ter'thig by the shuttle they were going to use to get to their first hunting ground. They were waiting on the rest of Ter'thig's group to arrive. Drag'lan was in his full armor, complete with harness, and was holding his mask in his right hand. He had left his pistol and shotgun at Fral's, knowing that they would only be a hindrance to him. His mask was in the standard Yautjan style, and didn't have any runes engraved into it yet. His armor had Regollen runes engraved into it. He personally didn't care for the mask, but both Fral and the forgemaster said it fit with his armor very well.

The previous night, Drag'lan had met with the group. He was somewhat surprised about how balanced it was. One of them was Zer'lorg, who was something of a scout/assassin. She had the look like a person that could run circles around you if you couldn't keep up. Another was Der'lorg. He was rather slim, even for a yautja. He had sharp, piercing eyes. According to Ter'thig, he was a sniper with his spear. That would make him a very formidable opponent. The final member of the group was Greil'por, who was something of a tank. He looked like someone who could crush a marine without much effort, and had the muscle to back it up. His eyes had the look of a person who had seen turmoil at a young age, and Drag'lan respected that.

~

The group had been having dinner together. The others chatted amongst themselves. Zer'lorg was bragging somewhat of her expectations for trophies.

"I'll be bringing home about 4 heads of Kainde Amedha" she had said.

Drag'lan snickered somewhat. This caused the group to look at him.

"And what is so funny?" Zer'lorg said.

"Oh it's just what you said." Drag'lan said.

"What's so funny about what I said?" Zer'lorg asked.

"I've heard a saying. 'Pride cometh before the fall'. I wouldn't be so expecting of victory. If there's one thing I know about the Kainde Amehda, as you call them, is that they always, ALWAYS, have a way of doing the unpredictable." he said. "So, I'd cool it, if I were you, lest you don't make it back."

"Is that a threat?" Zer'lorg said, her voice showing that she was testing his patience.

Drag'lan looked at her with a neutral expression. "Not in the slightest. It's more of a warning. As my mother used to say, 'Those that profess success often feel defeat's bite.' It pretty much means don't go into battle expecting to win."

Zer'lorg looked at him with something that could be best described as disbelief. Who was he to warn her of defeat?

"I can handle myself just fine. I don't need any warnings, especially from someone like YOU." Zer'org replied.

Drag'lan merely sighed and said, "Is that so? Fine by me. We'll see how long you last with that mindset. And what do you mean by 'YOU'?"

"Someone who doesn't belong here." Zer'lorg said.

Drag'lan's body tensed up slightly. He wasn't about to let somebody who didn't know him tell him where he did or didn't belong.

Drag'lan's eyes pulsed black slightly. "Not the wisest thing to say. If I didn't belong here, I'd be dead, so shut up about things you don't know anything about." He said. "Because words like that could end up getting you into fights with the wrong person one of these days." It was hard for him to keep the annoyance out of his voice.

"And what if I don't?" She said.

"Let's just say it will be...unpleasant, to say the least. You haven't seen me angry, and believe me when I say this, you never want to." Drag'lan said.

"Is that so?" Zer'lorg. "I highly doubt that you could do anything."

Those remarks nearly sent Drag'lan over the edge, but he retained a decent grip on his anger.

_I need to get out of here,_ He thought. _Before I kill somebody._

Drag'lan stood up. "I'm through with this bullshit." He said. He then turned to Ter'thig. "If you need me, you know where I'll be." He said before turning and leaving.

Zer'lorg followed him, but Drag'lan had expected this. As she approached him, he spun and caught her in the side with a kick, which floored her. He then resumed his walk.

Ter'thig walked up to Zer'lorg, who was gasping for breathe somewhat. He knelt next to her

"See what I mean about his abilities now?" He said. "I warned you not to mess with him. You got what was coming to you." before walking out as well.

~

Ter'thig turned to Drag'lan. "So, it's finally time to do what we do best, isn't it?" he asked.

Drag'lan looked at him. "For you maybe." He replied. "But for me, this is just another mission that needs to be completed."

"And where do you get that outlook from?" Ter'thig asked, curious.

"I get it from being in the USCMC, what you Yautja call 'marines'." Drag'lan said. "When we're out on a mission, we only think of it as a mission, nothing more. Keeps our mind on the task at hand."

"Ah. Ok, I understand." Ter'thig said, turning to look at the path. "Here the rest come."

Drag'lan looked at the group as they approached. They had standard Yautjan armor, like Ter'thig. Zer'lorg looked at him in disbelief.

"What is with your armor build? You think you're too good to look like us or something?" Zer'lorg said.

Drag'lan's stare became as cold as ice as he spoke. "No. I'm not so conceited to think that. I have no need for stealth, so I bypassed cloaking, favoring thicker and deadlier armor. You would also do well to remember what happened to you last night, when you ticked me off." He said.

Zer'lorg had her mask on, but Drag'lan could've sworn she did remember, because she went silent. He doubted that would be the end of it. From what his read on her was, she was the main troublemaker of the group, and tried to establish dominance. She wouldn't succeed with Drag'lan. He'd make sure of that.

Ter'thig stepped in, saying "Alright, you two. Stop fighting. This won't help any bit."

Drag'lan spoke to the whole group, saying "Alright. You guys might think you know what you're getting yourselves into, but you honestly have no idea. I've fought the Kainde Amedha before, and trust me, they're nowhere near as predictable as you might think."

None of them spoke, so he continued. "I've known Kainde Amedha that have mauled one soldier, just to leave another alone while a second Kainde Amedha snuck up from behind the second Marine and kill him. Remember that your prey is cunning and isn't consistent, and you might just survive."

The group remained silent, so Drag'lan put his mask on and walked onto the ship they'd be taking. He sat himself next to the main hatch, to make sure he had an instant exit. Ter'thig sat next to him, but he didn't really care. He leaned back, said "It's been way too long since I've been in a drop-ship. Wake me up when we get there.", closed his eyes, and fell asleep.

Zer'lorg laughed as she saw Drag'lan fall asleep. "Not too active, is he?" she asked.

Drag'lan's voice called out, saying "I heard that. And you haven't seen what I can do. I've been more active in my life than you, because I've had to fight for my life more times than you know."

Ter'thig laughed at this. He could tell when Drag'lan was fully asleep. Apparently, Zer'lorg couldn't.

Zer'lorg looked from Ter'thig to Drag'lan. "You two friends or something?" She asked, noticing how close they were.

Ter'thig looked at Zer'lorg. "If we're not friends, I don't know what to call us. He's friends with my older sister, Fral'drylx."

Zer'lorg's eyes widened as he heard the name. "So, THIS is Drag'lan?"

Ter'thig looked at her in surprise. "You mean you didn't know?" He asked.

Zer'lorg shook her head. She had heard of somebody with the name Drag'lan, but didn't think that the person in the heavy-looking armor before her could be that person.

Ter'thig laughed at hearing this. To him, this was as funny as could be.

Zer'lorg slid closer to Ter'thig, curious about Drag'lan. "Is it true about what he did to Leir'gorl then? Did Drag'lan really kill Leir'gorl with punches alone?" She asked.

Ter'thig nodded gravely. "It is. However, did you hear what the elders found when they looked into Leir'gorl's past?"

Zer'lorg shook her head.

"Well, from what I heard, they found that Leir'gorl was a Bad-Blood. That's the main reason why Drag'lan was allowed into the clan. It was a 'kill or be killed' moment, to use the Ooman saying." Ter'thig said.

The pair continued chatting, unaware that Drag'lan was half-way asleep. He couldn't completely make out what they were saying, but he awake enough to know that they were talking about him.

Drag'lan caught them speaking about what he had done to the bad-blood in the arena, and decided at that point to just end it. He fell completely asleep.

~

Drag'lan was shaken awake by Ter'thig. He snapped his eyes open, stood up and stretched.

"So, we there yet?" He said to Ter'thig

"Not quite. The pilot just wanted to speak with you for a bit." Ter'thig replied.

Drag'lan stood up and walked to the cockpit. The pilot looked at him.

"I've heard of you. I just want you to know that you truly deserve to be part of our clan. It is an honor to transport you to your first hunt." He said.

"Thanks, but do you have any information about the planet we're supposed to be going to?" Drag'lan replied. He didn't need anybody saying it was an honor to simply drive him to a destination.

"It's one of the planets we use primarily for newbloods to have their first hunt on. We seed the planet with the Kainde Amedha to start a hive, and then send down the group to see how they fare." The pilot said.

"Nice tactic. That's all I need to know." Drag'lan said, turning back and walking into the main hold.

"So, you guys know where you're heading after we land?" Drag'lan asked.

"All I know is that this is gonna be fun." Zer'lorg said, somewhat ecstatically. She pulled out her main weapons of choice: A pair of weapons that reminded Drag'lan of the weapon his marine squad had called a Sica. They were easily about 2 feet long, with the blade abruptly curving about 3/4 of the way down the blade. She also had what looked like a whip, but along the length of it, there were what could best be described as barbs fashioned from Kainde Amedha facing towards her if the whip was stretched out. Drag'lan assumed that when wrapped around the target, the spikes would embed and shred the target when pulled back.

"Same thing here." Der'lorg said, the enthusiasm very evident in his voice. He pulled off a rack he had attached to his back. 6 Yautjan combi-sticks were attached to it. It seemed to be set up to where he could just pull one out, throw it, and repeat. Above the top spear, there was Yautjan version of the Japanese Najinata, with two of the curved blades, one at each end. That one must be for if the Xenos get into melee range.

Greil'por remained silent, but pulled out the 2 morning-stars he had. They looked like they could cave in a Xeno's skull with little effort. He also had what looked like a heavy 2-handed Mace on his back.

Drag'lan turned to Ter'thig. "Doesn't talk much, does he?" He asked, gesturing towards Greil'por.

Ter'thig shook his head. "I don't know him on the personal level, but from what I've heard, he lost his parents to the Kainde Amedha when he was very young. Rumor has it that his vocal cords were cut by a Kainde Amedha warrior that day. He hasn't spoken since, and nobody has tried to make him speak."

Drag'lan looked at Greil'por and shook his head in pity; He had found someone in the same boat as him. He went and sat down next to Greil'por.

"I was told that you lost your parents to the Kainde Amedha. Is that true?" He asked.

Greil'por only looked at Drag'lan. He simply nodded.

"Why don't you speak? It helps to do that when you feel pain. Trust me." Drag'lan said.

Greil'por turned away, obviously not about to speak. Drag'lan knew not to push matters like this, so he walked back to sit next to Ter'thig.

"See what I mean now about him not speaking?" Ter'thig asked.

Drag'land nodded. "He's seen the same loss I have. I don't fault him for remaining silent. That kind of loss leave huge gaping wounds. His have yet to heal." He said.

"Wait, so your parents died from the Kainde Amedha?" Ter'thig asked.

"Not just my parents, but also my little brother, and my younger sisters. My entire genetic family was wiped out by the Kainde Amedha. That's why I know Greil'por's pain." Drag'lan said.

Ter'thig's jaw went slack. He had never heard that. "So, you know the pain of that loss. I can't respect that anywhere as near as you, as I still have my parents. What was it like growing up without them?"

Drag'lan shrugged. "It's about the same as with parents, only you have to learn a lot more stuff on your own."

"We're getting close to the planet. You might wanna get settled." The pilot said.

Drag'lan sat down. There wasn't any harness like the USCMC drop-ships had, so he just clung to the bars next to his seat.

Ter'thig looked at Drag'lan like he was crazy. "What's got you so nervous?" He asked

Drag'lan looked at Ter'thig. "Have you ever been on a ship entering atmosphere?" He asked.

"Nope." He replied.

"Well, I'd cling onto something. Entering atmosphere is rather unpleasant. I saw a person get thrown around the Marine dropship we were on like a rag-doll because his harness came loose." Drag'lan said.

Ter'thig grabbed onto the bars next to his seat.

The ship hit the atmosphere, and Drag'lan felt the shaking, but it wasn't anywhere as bad as he remembered when he was with the Reapers. The ship was shaking rather lightly, so he let go of the bars.

"Well, that was unexpected. Normally, there's worse shaking when the ship enters atmosphere." Drag'lan said.

"Well, don't forget that we Yautja have higher technology than Marines, so it makes sense that we have less effects of re-entering a planet's atmosphere." Ter'thig said.

Drag'lan walked over to one of the portholes and looked at the planet that he would be "hunting" on.

He saw a planet much like the one he and Fral had met on; A jungle planet. He sighed. His heavy armor would be somewhat of a nuisance there, but he'd make do with what he had. He always did. It was either that, or you die. Simple rule to live by.

He looked out there without anything showing on his face. In his mind, he was thinking. Thinking about whether he would take a trophy. His race respected the dead, so much so that they would bury their enemies' bodies. He figured that the only way to prove that he had killed a Xeno would be through taking a trophy.

Zer'lorg approached him. He turned around just as she was about to tap him on the shoulder.

"What is it?" He asked.

"I was just wondering something." Zer'lorg said. Something in her voice told Drag'lan that he wasn't going to like what she had to say.

"Well, don't let me stop you from saying it." Drag'lan said.

"Well, I was wondering how you know you can handle the Kainde Amedha." She said.

"I can handle myself fine. I just use these beauties." Drag'lan said, tapping his swords one at a time lovingly.

"And what are THOSE going to do against the Kainde Amedha?" Zer'lorg asked.

Drag'lan's patience was getting tested again. Clearly, she hadn't learned from last night not to tick him off.

"I don't need to explain what these can do. And if you don't mind, I'm gonna go sit down. I need to talk to Ter'thig about something." Drag'lan said, keeping his voice calm.

Zer'lorg remained where she was. "And what are you gonna do if I don't?" She said testily.

Drag'lan just sighed. "You seriously haven't learned anything, have you?" He asked.

He didn't even wait for her to answer before he gave her a quick jab to the gut, which made her double over, winded. He then pushed her back with his entire right forearm and then kicked her, which sent her sprawling. By the time she started to get up, Drag'lan was standing over her, with one of his short-swords pointed directly at her throat.

"Hopefully NOW you see why I am not one to be ticked off." Drag'lan said, his voice showing his annoyance at having to take direct action like this. He never wanted to show his worth this way, but if forced to do so, he would.

Zer'lorg looked at him, her body posture showing fear. Drag'lan hoped to high heaven that he had finally gotten his point across; He was not one to be trifled with. If all had gone well, she'd leave him alone now about not being a true Yautja. There are 2 kinds of people that Drag'lan despise: People who think they're better than another person because of what species/race they are, and people who fight dishonorably.

He pulled his sword away. "Don't worry. I'm not about to kill you, but if you keep this act up, I might. I have a short temper, and those that piss me off seldom live to tell of it." He said, sheathing his blade. He turned to sit next to Ter'thig.

Ter'thig had watched this go on without any form of surprise. He knew that Drag'lan wasn't one to be messed with, and he had warned Zer'lorg of this multiple times.

_Well,_ He thought. _Live and learn, I guess._

Zer'lorg scrambled to get to her feet. Clearly, she was shaken up at how Drag'lan had acted. She hadn't expected him to be that fast.

"What ARE you?" Zer'lorg asked.

Drag'lan looked at her with another cold stare behind his mask. "I'm complicated. Few understand that, and even fewer try to. Now the question is which one you are." He said.

Zer'lorg turned away. She was shaking. Drag'lan hated using fear tactics, but if he had to resort to them, he would use them.

"Alright people. This will be your stop...hold on. Where the pauk is the group that was supposed to meet us here?" The pilot said. His voice showed that he was highly nervous.

Drag'lan wasn't nervous at all. "Just drop us where we were supposed to be dropped, and we'll see if we can find the group your speaking of." He said, trying to calm the pilot down.

"Sorry, but I can't. There are laws in place to stop you from doing this without overseers." The pilot said.

"Well, then. Just set us down and try to get them on communications." Drag'lan said.

That was about to happen when the ship was hit by something. Drag'lan heard something that sounded like an explosion right when the ship got hit. The ship started shaking, as the shock of the impact might have jerked the pilot around and caused him to lose control.

_Shit,_ He thought. _That must have been a missile. Who the FUCK is down there?_

Drag'lan turned to Ter'thig. "I thought your ships had cloaking systems built into them." He said.

Ter'thig looked back at him. "They do. I bet that the pilot didn't have the cloaking on, because this is supposed to have only Yautja and the Kainde Amedha."

The ship had been shaking for a bit after the first explosion, but the shaking had died out, meaning the pilot had just regained control.

"I think that was it. I'll see where I can-"

The pilot was cut off by a second and third explosion outside the ship. The ship started shaking violently. Those new missiles had clearly done something bad.

"PAUK!" The pilot said, the fear evident in his voice. "We're going down! Hang onto something!"

Drag'lan grabbed onto the bars next to him as the ship started pitching forward. They were about to crash, he just knew it. He saw the others doing the same. He then did something completely crazy: He let go of the bars, pulled out his short-swords, and stuck them into the gaps between the bars. They got locked in place, and he clung onto them with all his might. He closed his eyes and started saying words in Regollen, asking his ancestors to keep the group alive. He didn't want any of them to die, even Zer'lorg, because they all had families on Lai'Kairis, and Drag'lan didn't want their families to get the bad news.

Drag'lan felt something come barreling into his abdomen, winding him. It took all of his determination to not release his hold on his swords. He opened his eyes and saw that Ter'thig was lying at his feet.

_Oh shit..._ He thought. _Something must have broken his grip._

Drag'lan felt the pressure on him increase. The ship was increasing speed to wherever it was going.

Drag'lan then did another crazy thing: He let go of Ethereal. He grabbed onto Ter'thig's chestplate and applied pressure to keep him place.

A sudden jerk broke his grip on Physique and sent him flying into the opposite side of the ship. After that, he knew nothing.


	14. Chapter 13

Chapter 13 - Welcome to the Jungle

Drag'lan had a memory of one of his more humorous moments in the Reapers while he was out.

_He was standing in the barracks that the Reapers were in. He held his pistol up, inspecting it. He had just received it and was itching to tested it out on the Xenos. According to the engineer that constructed it, the gun could fire different types of high-caliber ammunition, ranging from standard rounds to armor-piercing explosive rounds._

_He heard the Barracks door open and looked to see a new face. That didn't surprise him; They had lost one of the others in the mission 3 weeks ago._

_The new guy looked at Drag'lan and saluted._

_"Corporal Ryan Hawkins reporting for duty!" The guy said._

_"Can it with that stuff, newbie. We call each other by our names. I'm Drag'lan. If you're lookin' for the Lieutenant, head in there." Drag'lan said, gesturing towards the Mess Hall._

_"Okay, Drag'lan." Ryan said._

_"Oh, and by the way, call me Drag. That's what the others call me." Drag'lan said._

_"You got it." Ryan said, walking towards the Mess Hall._

_Drag'lan chuckled to himself as the new guy walked out._

_"New guys. They'll either learn fast or they'll die." He muttered to himself._

_Davis walked out a few minutes later._

_"Alright Drag. Let's get this show on the road. We're taking out another Xeno hive today, and it'll be a doozy. Hawkins here will be running as a Smartgunner, as Gerald didn't make it back from that one mission. You'll be showing him how we operate." He said_

_"Fuck me." Drag'lan said under his breathe. "Why do I always get stuck with training the newbies?"_

_The squad walked out of the barracks and into their Dropship, which had their insignia painted on the side in bright red paint._

_Four hours later..._

_Drag'lan was running through the hive, quickly followed by Davis, Hawkins, Miles, and George. The others were drawing the main Xenos away from the Queen's Chambers. Drag'lan knew a way to quickly take her out when they found her._

_The group entered the chambers and saw the queen in all her glory. She was surrounded by eggs, all of which were closed for the time being. Mills pulled up her flamethrower and was waiting for the signal to fire. Drag'lan took a knee and removed the cylinder he had strapped across his back. He put is on his shoulder and got his sights locked on the Queen._

_Davis noticed this. "Is that what I THINK it is?"_

_"If you think it's a Rocket Launcher, then yes, it's what you think it is." Drag'lan replied, with a hint of amusement in his voice._

_"Don't fire that thing-" Davis began, but Drag'lan fired anyway._

_The plume of smoke trailed the specialized rocket. Drag'lan ha asked for one with maximum explosives, but minimal blast radius. The engineer SAID that this would work, but Drag'lan knew there was only one way to find out. The Queen tried to get removed from her egg-sack, but didn't make it in them. The rocket slammed right into her crested head, exploding on impact._

_The queen's now head-less body fell lifeless to the ground. Many confused screeches could be heard throughout the hive._

_Davis looked at Drag'lan as if he were angry. "Let's get out of here. I think we've over-stayed our welcome."_

_The group fled as fast as they could, Drag'lan holding back to handle any Xenos that tried to follow. His brand-new pistol was doing it's job rather well. It blew the Xenos away, LITERALLY._

Drag'lan woke up, his head feeling like someone had stuck a tazer directly to it. He felt his mask, and found that it had somehow withstood the impact with the side of the ship.

_Oh, shit._ He thought. _Something is WAY off here. This shouldn't have happened._

He looked behind him and saw Ter'thig on the ground, face-down. He dashed over the Ter'thig and checked for a pulse. He felt one, and that made him relieved; Ter'thig was going to be okay.

He turned to face the cockpit and saw that the other 3 were on the ground as well. Zer'lorg was beginning to stir, but Drag'lan saw that she had a rod of metal sticking out of her left leg.

Drag'lan ran to her and knelt next to her.

"Don't move much. There's something stuck in your leg. You might wanna switch off your transmitter for the time being, because this is gonna hurt when I pull it out." He said to her.

He waited for her to touch something on her wrist-computer before grabbing onto her leg. He pulled her leg off the ground to check for any barbs or bends on the rod. Seeing none, he set it back down gingerly. He then grabbed onto the rod.

"You ready?" He asked her. She nodded in response.

"Okay then." He said. "On three. ONE...TWO...THREE!"

On three, Drag'lan pulled the rod out. It was slick with fluorescent green. Drag'lan immediately pulled the med-kit off of the wall and applied a sanitizing agent to the wound and also wrapped a large bandage wrap around the wound. Luckily it hadn't hit the bones, being on the outer section. She'd be fine in time.

"I know that this hurts, but you'll be fine. The wound was a clean through-and-through, didn't hit the bone, is sanitized, and wrapped up. It'll hurt for a while, but it'll heal in time." He said.

"Wow. After all I've done to you, I would've expected you to leave that thing in my leg." Zer'lorg said, the pain evident in her voice.

"We Regollen don't leave people on their team behind. We look after those that work with us as if they were family. I intend to keep that tradition going." Drag'lan said.

"Heh. That's an interesting idea. No wonder you're so tough. I bet you had to watch people die more than others." Zer'lorg.

"You have no idea. Now, stay here so that I can check on the others." Drag'lan said, standing up and turning to head to the others.

When he felt at Der'lorg's neck, he found a pulse, but it was very faint. Drag'lan fished through the med-kit, searching for the scanner. He couldn't find it, so he searched for something that could stimulate Der'lorg's heartbeat. He found something and injected it directly into Der'lorgs neck. Der'lorg's eyes sprang open and he sat up.

"What happened to me?" Der'lorg asked him.

"I don't know. I just patched Zer'lorg up. Hey..." Drag'lan said. "Are you two related at all? I just thought about your names and how similar they are."

Der'lorg nodded. "She's my fraternal twin. We're about as different in mentality as can be, though." He said.

"Interesting..." Drag'lan said. "Well, I'm gonna go check on Greil'por."

Der'lorg nodded. Drag'lan stood up and walked over to Greil'por. He knelt and checked for a pulse. He found one, and it seemed like Greil'por would be fine. There was a small cut in his right upper-arm. Drag'lan grabbed a pair of forceps and pulled the cut open slightly. This was to check for any metal shards that could be in the wound. Finding none, he released the forceps and closed the wound as best as he could. He then pulled out one of the vials of sanitizing salve he had and spread a bit over the cut. Greil'por woke up to the sanitizing effects stinging him and swung one of his morning-stars at Drag'lan's head. Drag'lan barely ducked under it in time.

"Dude, you're alright. I was just getting one of your wounds cleaned up." Drag'lan said.

"I'm sorry." Greil'por said. His voice was low and had a slight rumble to it. Drag'lan had figured he'd have that kind of voice, based on his build. "I shouldn't have swung at you."

"It's nothing. Such things happen with me all the time. I come within an inch of decapitating someone with one of my swords before I realize who they are and stop." Drag'lan said.

Drag'lan stood up and looked at Ter'thig. He was beginning to stir. Drag'lan walked over to him and knelt next to him. He flipped Ter'thig over so that he was on his back. Ter'thig grabbed his arm.

"What happened?" He asked Drag'lan.

"I have no idea, but I think we're on our own here." Drag'lan replied. "I'm gonna go check on the pilot."

With that, he stood up and strode into the cockpit. What he saw there was awful. The pilot was slumped over, multiple rods of metal sticking out of his torso and his head was twisted in an unnatural angle. Drag'lan winced at the sight of the pilot and turned back into the main hold.

"Well...I don't think we'll be heading back in this ship." Drag'lan said to the others.

"Why is that?" Zer'lorg said, limping towards to cockpit. "What happened to the pilot?"

"You don't wanna go in there. It's not that a pretty picture." Drag'lan said as she tried pushing him aside.

"Let me through." She said, her voice showing some anger. "I wanna check on the pilot as well."

"Fine. Don't tell me I didn't warn you though." Drag'lan said, stepping aside.

Zer'lorg limped into the cockpit, but then came falling back out.

"Oh Paya!" She said. "What the hell happened to him?"

"I don't know, but I think that his neck was snapped when we crashed, those rods came loose from somewhere and impaled him. Other than that, I'm not sure." Drag'lan said. "I just hope he died a quick death. Nobody, and I mean NOBODY, deserves to die the way he did."

"Well, what do we do now?" Ter'thig said, standing up shakily.

"Honestly, the first step we need to take is get out of this ship. However, I suggest we salvage what we can before leaving, because we won't be coming back." Drag'lan said, walking over to Ter'thig to help him become steady.

"Agreed. We need to get anything that can help us out with us." Greil'por said.

That being said, the group scoured the hold, searching for anything they could use. In the end, they had about 3 Yautjan Med-kits, a few Thermal Blankets, and an emergency transmitter. Drag'lan took the pilot's mask and wrist-bracers, as the pilot didn't have a Plasma Caster, and if he was right, Drag'lan knew who had just attacked the ship. The tech wouldn't wanna be left here, that was for sure. The group tried the main hatch, which was at the back, but it was messed up beyond all comprehension. The same could be said of the side hatch on the left part of the starboard side of the ship.

"Looks like this hunt has become seriously FUBAR." Drag'lan said after they tried the side hatch.

"FUBAR?" Ter'thig asked.

"It's a marine acronym. It means 'Fucked Up Beyond Any Recognition'" Drag'lan said. "It's normally used when it concerns you Yautja or the Xenos. It's appropriate under the circumstances we have though, am I right?"

Ter'thig laughed. "Yes. It is appropriate." He said.

Drag'lan walked over to the side hatch on the port side and found that it was actually workable, but would take mass amounts of force.

"I found our exit. Greil'por, I'll need your help opening it though." Drag'lan said, as he started pushing it to no avail.

Greil'por stood beside him and started pushing as well. The door started moving, but wasn't about to open any time soon.

Drag'lan inhaled deeply and exhaled. He pulled back a bit, his mind set on one more course of action.

"Move. Time to try one last thing." He said, un-latching his left pauldron and removing it.

Greil'por looked at him with some curiosity, but when he saw Drag'lan's body posture and where he was facing, that was all he needed to know to get out of the way.

Drag'lan dropped the pauldron and went barreling into the side hatch, with his left shoulder first. It hurt like a motherfucker, but Drag'lan backed up and repeated the action. The hatch was pushed out a bit with the first impact, but the second one sent it flying like nothing. Drag'lan backed up a bit, holding his shoulder.

The others looked at him in amazement. Zer'lorg looked at the way that Drag'lan was holding his shoulder.

"Did that hurt at all?" She asked as Drag'lan re-equipped his pauldron.

Drag'lan just looked at her before grabbing a Med-kit and walking out of the ship into the jungle.

"I'll take that as a yes." She muttered to herself as she limped out.

Drag'lan looked around, looking for something to use as a way-point. He saw a column of smoke rising in the distance and deemed that as a suitable way-point.

"I'm heading towards the rising smoke. Follow if you want. It's up to you." Drag'lan said, before heading off.

Drag'lan had no doubt that they would end up following him. They had to band together to survive, as cliched as the term was.

Drag'lan had no idea how well he called the actions of the others.

Ter'thig watched as Drag'lan left. He turned and looked at the others.

"You guys waiting for an invitation or something? Let's go. We need to stick together if we wanna keep alive, especially you, Zer'lorg." He said.

With that, he set off after Drag'lan. Der'lorg and Greil'por both put one of Zer'lorg's arms around their shoulders and assisted her out of the ship and after Ter'thig.

Drag'lan heard the others following and smirked.

_I knew that they would follow..._ He thought. _We really need to stick together to stay alive._

He kept walking as Ter'thig approached him.

"Do you know what's that way at all?" Ter'thig asked,

"No idea." Drag'lan said. "But, it shows some form of settlement, and that is what we need."

Ter'thig nodded. "I see."

Drag'lan abruptly stopped. He saw a wall of sorts in front of him.

"We need to take cover." He said.

"Why do we need to do that?" Ter'thig asked.

"Just trust me. There's something wrong with this planet, and I think I know what it is." Drag'lan said.

Ter'thig turned and said for them to take cover. They did that.

Drag'lan then used his mask to zoom in on the wall and saw what he had feared: He saw USCMC soldiers standing guard at the gate. From what he saw, they had standard-issue Pulse Rifles. Upon closer examination of the gate, he saw the familiar yellow letters WY on the gate.

_Fuck me._ Drag'lan thought. _I should've known they'd be here._

_However. The two guards aren't too much to deal with, but there are probably more inside._Drag'lan thought.

He turned to Der'lerg. "How accurate are you with those things?" He asked, gesturing to Der'lorg's spears.

"Pretty damn accurate. Why do you ask?" Der'lorg asked.

"Because I'll need you to take out the marine on the right when I give the signal and I'll take out the other one." Drag'lan replied.

"Very well. What's the signal going to be?" Der'lorg asked.

"I'll bang my gauntlet against my pauldron. It should also draw their attention. After you do that, I'll take care of the rest." Drag'lan said.

"Okay. Let's do it." Der'lorg said.

Drag'lan walked into the brush as quietly as he could. He was stunningly stealthy, given how heavy his armor was. He got close enough to where he could see the guards, but without them seeing him. He clanged his right arm gauntlet against his left pauldron. The resulting sound was nearly deafening.

As he had figured, the 2 guards turned their head to face where the sound came from. Their guns snapped up to the ready position. Drag'lan heard the sound of something flying through the air, and the next thing he knew, the guard farthest from him was stuck to the wall.

He heard one of the guards say "OH MY GOD, JERRY!"

Drag'lan sprang from his post, un-sheathing his secondary combat blade as he did so. As he drew near the guard, he said a rushed apology to his ancestors for his acts. He then grabbed onto the guard's shoulder with his left hand and jammed the knife into his neck. Then Drag'lan pushed the knife, slicing the guard's neck open ear to ear. To say that Drag'lan opened the guard's neck like a Pez Dispenser would be grossly understating the act.

Drag'lan pulled the spear that Der'lorg had thrown loose and shortened it. He then gestured for the group to approach.

"Alright. Time to get this place cleared out. I'll get Zer'lorg. You three head in and see what you can find out. No confrontations. Only observations, understand me?" Drag'lan said, his voice as serious as could be.

The rest of the group nodded to him as he left Zer'lorg's arms alone, since his shoulder-pieces had the blades on them. Instead, he put one of his arms around her abdomen, letting her lean on him for support. They would survive this. Drag'lan would make sure of that.


	15. Chapter 14

Chapter 14 - Monsters

Drag'lan turned to Zer'lorg as the pair walked.

"Why do you act the way you do? You want to be in charge all the time, but something isn't right when you act." He asked her.

"I've always been an outcast. It's the only way I know to show my worth." She replied.

Drag'lan shook his head. She didn't understand how it felt to be an outcast at all.

"You don't act as if you're in charge if you want to show your worth. Besides, just look at me. I was treated much like you treated me earlier throughout my entire life, especially when I had arrived at Lai'Kairis. Let me ask you this. Do you still have your family?" He said.

"Yes, I do. What does that have to do with the matter though?" She asked.

"You got off lucky. I lost both of my parents when I was young. I've had to prove myself over and over again to multitudes of people. Now tell me. Can you compare to that?" Drag'lan said.

"No. I can't. My apologies for the way I've acted." Zer'lorg said.

"Apology accepted. Now, let's get to that gate. Hopefully the others are done with their recon by now." Drag'lan said.

As the pair approached the gate, Drag'lan saw the others uncloak.

"So. What did you find?" He asked them.

"Not much. This seems to be a simple colony. However, some of the 'colonists' have lab coats. I believe we have a research facility here." Ter'thig said.

"Not a bad call. We need access, however. Can you do that?" Drag'lan said.

"Easily. They're using simple generators to power everything at this time. I see multiple Marines in there though. I'm sure they're all at the ready. Are you sure you want me to open the gate?" Ter'thig asked.

"Yes, I'm sure. Get us in, and then it's free reign from there." Drag'lan said.

The group seemed enthusiastic at this. Drag'lan looked at Zer'lorg.

"You think you can walk now?" He asked her.

She nodded. "I'll manage."

"Alright." Drag'lan said. He then took his arm back from around her shoulder.

Drag'lan stood next to the gate and started listening to what was going on inside the walls. The next thing he knew, he was hearing gunfire and screams. He then heard the gate opening, but he saw people running out of it, unarmed, with looks of fear on their faces.

_Those must be the scientists_ He thought. _But what are they running from?_

He looked within the compound and saw what was doing it: Xenos were attacking. He quickly ran in, past the scientists and started engaging the Xenos as they came at him, He had the room to use em, so he had Regoll and Toxin out. He cut down Xeno after Xeno. However, they just seemed to keep coming. Drag'lan saw his group engaging them as well, as well as certain marines. These marines intrigued him, but then he saw what was on one of their shoulder-plates.

It was the insignia he had on the shirt that he wore under his chest-piece. There was the same skull, the twin crossed scythes. EVERYTHING was matching. One of them was also in armor like that he had seen his father wear the day he died. It also looked much like the armor he wore, but seemed much lighter.

Drag'lan couldn't help but call out in Regollen, in the hopes of finding another of his race.

"Groyl! Freel gort drelk!" He yelled, seeing a Xeno approaching from it's rear.

The figure turned around and dispatched the Xeno effortlessly. There was no way to tell what gender it was, as they had a full helmet on. This person stood about 5ft 8in tall, and maybe weighed around 198lbs. He made his way towards the individual and stood back-to-back with them, helping them fight off Xeno after Xeno, as they had a longsword out.

The group was holding their own. Hell, even Zer'lorg was in the fight, even with her injury. They fought with a zeal that Drag'lan had rarely seen. Der'lorg was slicing Xenos up with his stave for melee combat, and Greil'por was caving in skulls like it was nothing. Ter'thig was doing quite well, cutting down xeno after Xeno. Zer'lorg managed to wrap one Xeno in her whip and shredding it by dragging the whip back across its flesh.

Then all of a sudden, the Xenos retreated without any warning. Drag'lan saw the marines start following, with the exception of the person he had assisted. They held back, watching Drag'lan.

They said, in very fluent Regollen, "Who are you and why can you speak the way I can?"

Drag'lan removed his mask, revealing his face to the person. "My name is Drag'lan Hellanille Sorell. I speak your language because I am one just like you." He said in Regollen.

Zer'lorg turned to Ter'thig. "What are they talking in?" She asked.

Ter'thig shrugged. He didn't understand a word they were saying.

Drag'lan approached the individual with his swords put away.

"And who are you? I never caught your name." He asked.

The person pulled off their helmet and Drag'lan got a shock; They were female. Her bright violet eyes and dark red hair told him all he needed to know. She would've been attractive, if her attitude didn't seem like that of a narcissist. She looked at him briefly before bringing her pistol to bear and shooting his chest-piece a couple of times before running off.

Drag'lan felt the impacts, but they didn't pierce his armor, just knocked him on his ass. He had made the chest-piece thick enough to block most small-arms fire just from how thick it was alone. He stood up and looked at the fleeing woman.

He then turned to face the group. He then put his mask back on.

"Alright. Let's check this place out and see what they were up to. Spread out. Keep in radio contact in case you find something." He said.

The group spread out, and Drag'lan took what looked like a large barracks. He entered and caught the whiff of pure death. He saw blood streaks on the walls and blood splatter on the walls as well. Drag'lan walked through the halls and saw multiple rooms where there were bodies just laying around. Then he heard a roar that could only come from a Yautja. He dashed down the hall towards the sound. What he saw next he couldn't explain. There was a human standing over the Yautja that had roared. Drag'lan took a second before starting to run towards the human. He noticed the person had a pistol as well as a combat knife, so he drew his secondary combat knife. He leaped at the human, knocking the pistol out of his hand before holding his knife in a defensive stance.

The human regarded him with curiosity before lunging at him, his knife aiming for the gap between his chest-piece and his leggings, which would hit either the liver or the kidney. Drag'lan side-stepped the attack and brought his knife up, cutting him along the upper arm. The human then attempted a lung again, scoring a stab on Drag'lan's Left upper-arm. Drag'lan responded by punching him in the side of the head with his right arm. This caused the person to let go of the knife, which Drag'lan ripped out and dropped to the floor, as well as his own knife.

The human prepared himself for hand-to-hand combat before a Xeno screech was heard that echoed through the halls.

Drag'lan slid the combat knife to the human and picked up his own, sheathing it. He didn't have time to fight a human.

"Go. If you don't there's no telling what could happen." He said, in English.

With that, Drag'lan followed the sound of the screech. What he saw when he found the source, he didn't want to ever see again. He caught sight of what he feared would happen had he left Fral in the hive when they first met: A Predalien. It looked much like a Drone Xeno, only the size of a Praetorian. It had the mandibles of a Pred, but in ever other aspect, it was a Xeno. Drag'lan froze for a split-second, but recovered and pulled out Toxin. He then proceeded to charge at the Predalien.

When he got close to the Predalien, it whipped its tail at him, catching his left arm with the end, cutting deep into it. Drag'lan felt the pain, but blocked it out. The Predalien swung its tail to be-head him, but he just raised Toxin in defense, causing the tail to embed itself in the blade. With stunning speed, Drag'lan unsheathed Physique and cut the tail off without effort. He then leaped at the Predalien and drove his blade into the top of its head. It tried to claw at him, but he only drove the blade deeper and deeper. He only stopped when he saw the hilt of the blade hit the top of the Predalien's head. It dropped to the ground, its brain sliced clean in half, and Drag'lan drew Physique out, caked with bright green blood.

_Hmm..._ He thought. _Something is off about this blood. It should be breaking my blade down right now...Why isn't it?_

Drag'lan grabbed a nearby cloth and cleaned his blade off. He'd have to bring that up with Fral's dad when they got back. But that was for another time. He pulled the tail blade out of Toxin and brought it down on the neck of the Predalien, be-heading it. He sheathed his blades, picked up the Predalien's head and ran out of the barracks. He figured the human he had found would be fine, as he had taken down a Yautja.

Drag'lan ran into Ter'thig as he exited. Ter'thig noticed that something was wrong.

"Drag'lan. You look like you've seen a ghost. What's up?" He asked.

Drag'lan looked at him.

"I knew something was wrong when we landed. But I didn't expect what I saw in there." He replied.

"Why? What did you see?" Ter'thig asked, now worried somewhat.

Right as Drag'lan was about to speak, the rest of the group showed up.

"I saw a Predalien, of all things. Now I know what happened to the group that was supposed to meet us." Drag'lan said.

Zer'lorg gasped. "Oh god..." She said.

Drag'lan shook his head.

"Let's go. We need to see if we can find something to get our signal out." He said.

Drag'lan walked off, holding his left arm. When he got out of sight, he pulled out a vial of his salve and spread some over his cut and stab, as he deemed that using a med-kit would be wasteful. He still wrapped them up in a bandage, but that was so that they wouldn't be open to the elements. He then walked towards the command center, hoping to find a working radio there.

The group followed him into the building. As they were walking, out of nowhere came the screeches of a large number of Xenomorphs. Drag'lan whipped around. He zoomed in and saw a large hoard coming at them, even in the darkness. Without a second thought, he pushed his way to the back, shocking them.

"Go! We've got company! I'll hold them off while you guys get the signal out." He yelled, pulling out Regoll.

"But, Drag'lan, that is-"

"Suicide? I know that. Just go. Don't look back." He said, cutting off Ter'thig.

"But-"

"GO!" He said, sounding much like an angered Yautja.

To make his point, he shoved them through the hatch and slammed it shut, causing it to buckle and become unable to open. He then turned around.

"Ancestors. Let me feel your strength and protect the others. This is my final stand." He said in Regollen before lowering his blade and charging down the hall.

As he began to meet the Xenos head on, his arm seemed to take on a mind of it's own, swinging in large arcs, cutting down any and all Xenos that stood in his path.

_Don't worry, my descendant. I am with you. You will survive this._ A voice in his head said. This voice wasn't like his Yautjan ancestor's and definitely wasn't his father's.

_Who are you?_ Drag'lan thought.

_I am Dreglornne, Drag'lan. I am your most ancient ancestor._ The voice said.

_My father said you were the most powerful Brute in Regollen history. So you're telling me that I am your descendant?_ Drag'lan thought.

_Yes. You are my descendant. That is why you can have such great control over your rage at times._ Dreglornne said. _Now, let your anger and rage just flow. It will help you._

_Alright._ Drag'lan thought, doing what he was told.

As Drag'lan let everything go, he saw his swings become faster and faster, with his sword runes glowing emerald green, showing that he was at peace. His swings left all Xenomorphs on the ground, either sliced in half, limb and headless or just cut up. Drag'lan was amazed at how much more skill he was using while swinging his swords when he just let everything go.

_Wow...how can I do that?_ He said.

_When you are at ease and let everything go, you can do much better in anything you attempt._ Dreglornne told him.

_Thank you for your guidance._ Drag'lan said.

_No thanks are needed. I just help those of my line that need it._ Dreglornne said, pulling back from Drag'lan's mind.

Drag'lan looked back and saw the carnage he had left in his wake. When he turned around, he was hit but a huge clawed hand that sent him flying back down the hall and caused him to impact with the hatch he had just sealed, denting it. He got up and saw another Predalien, this one much larger and even more Xeno-like than the one he had fought previously. He felt blood in his mouth and spat out a large glob of his blood. He looked at the blood for a second before raising his head.

_Oh shit..._ He thought, somewhat shocked. _This is gonna be interesting._

He pulled out Toxin as well, feeling the strength of all those that had used these blades before him flow into his spirit and through his veins. All of a sudden, the runes glowed bright white, making small beams of light come out of them. The beams died out, leaving only pure white runes in their wake.

_We are all with you, now._ A large group of voices said as one in his mind. _We will help you deal with this threat._

With that, Drag'lan went charging at the new Predalien, his blades shining brightly against the near pitch-black conditions. Drag'lan swung his blades in wide arcs, but the Predalien was much faster than it looked, and managed to land another blow, which sent him sprawling. Drag'lan recovered, but Regoll and Toxin became embedded in the walls. He drew Physique and Ethereal this time. Their runes were glowing white as well. He then charged back at the Predalien. It roared loudly, but he just kept going. It tried to impale him with its tail, but Drag'lan ducked and brought Physique up, slicing a portion of its tail clean off. It then tried to bash him again with its clawed hand, but he dodged it and brought Ethereal down on it's wrist, severing it.

The Predalien roared even louder, but Drag'lan ignored it and stabbed his swords straight through its chest. The Predalien then managed to pick him up with its other hand, but Drag'lan, with super-charged reflexes, brought his combat knife out and stabbed it into the Predalien's wrist, causing it to drop him. He landed perfectly on his feet and grabbed onto Physique and Ethereal, which were still lodged in it's chest. He brought them both down, which pretty much eviscerated it, because its innards stared spilling out, leaving a huge bloody mess.

The Predalien fell to the floor, screeching, which only caused Drag'lan to plunge both Ethereal and Physique down into the side of its head, silencing it. He removed the swords and walked back to the hatch he had caused to become unusable. He kicked it, causing the rather thin metal to bend in, giving him just enough room to go through. He went back down the hall, sheathed his short-swords and retrieved his great-swords. He then went through the hatch, and continued down the hall until he entered the command center. The rest of the group was surprised to see him.

Ter'thig shook his head in shock.

"Drag'lan, you're alive! But how-"

"Did I do it? I had some help from some old friends." Drag'lan said, looking at his great-swords.

Ter'thig looked at him with curiosity, but shook his head.

"Well, since you're here, you mind helping us get this set up correctly?" Ter'thig asked.

"Yeah. This stuff has basic controls. Hand me that transmitter." Drag'lan replied, which Ter'thig handed over.

It took him a bit, but Drag'lan managed to get the radio transponder to hook up to the transmitter that Ter'thig had given him. He then sent his message, a basic "Help. Lost hunting new-blood party. Follow signal to find us." message, through the transmitter, which in turn sent it through the transponder on only Yautjan ship frequencies.

"There. Hopefully now we'll be able to get off of this place. It's gone to hell." He said.

Ter'thig nodded.

"What happened down there, though?" Ter'thig asked.

"You might wanna sit down, because this might take a while to explain." Drag'lan said.

The group scrambled to find something to sit on, as Drag'lan took his own seat and began explaining what had happened in the hall.

~

Elsewhere...

~

Fral was beside herself with worry. Drag'lan should've gotten to the planet that he was supposed to hunt on.

Her dad walked in, nervous beyond all comprehension. This made Fral worry even more; He was never nervous.

"Fral...there's something you must know." He said.

Fral stood up.

"What is it?" She asked.

"We've lost contact with BOTH Drag'lan's ship and the group on the planet he was going to hunt on." He said.

Fral's eyes widened.

"So Drag'lan is-"

"Now, nobody is sure about what happened to them. For all we know there could just be interference. No need to jump to conclusions." Her dad said.

Fral hugged her dad tightly.

"I just hope they make it back safely." She said.

"I do, too. Although, from what I've seen of Drag'lan, he's a survivor. There's no doubt in my mind that they'll be fine, so long as they're with him." Her dad said.

Fral released her hug and looked up.

"You're right. They'll be fine." She said

Right then, Fral's dad walked to the communicator on the wall. He activated it and conversed with somebody. After that, he turned to Fral, his face showing hope.

"We just picked up a distress signal from the planet where Drag'lan was supposed to hunt. I don't know if it's them or not, but the elders are going to send a group to check it out." Her dad said.

Fral looked at him, her eyes lighting up.

"Can I go with? I need to know if Drag'lan's still alive." Fral said.

"Well, the elders just tasked me with leading the search force, so I don't see why not." her dad replied.

Fral's eyes lighted up even more at hearing this. Her dad noticed this.

"You really like Drag'lan, don't you?" He asked her. "And you know what I mean when I say 'like'."

"Yes. I've felt this way since we fought the Bad-bloods on my ship. How did you know?" She replied.

"I've pretty much raised you. That time has let me know when something changes with you. That's how I know." Her dad said.

Fral looked at him, uncertainty in her eyes.

"And you're not angry at my choice for a mate?" She asked.

"Of course not. It's your heart to give to whomever you want." Her dad said.

"Oh, thank you." Fral, said, hugging her dad tightly again.

This time, he returned it.

"Now, your mother might not be so liberal about this, but I'll speak to her about it. She needs to know that your love for Drag'lan is meant to be." He said. "Now, let's go. According to the elders, the signal was sent on a wide range of frequencies. If we picked it up, so did others. We need to get there first, and get them home."

Fral nodded and pulled back.

"Yes. Let's go." She said, heading to the armory to get geared up. There was no telling what could happen during the transit to the planet Drag'lan was on.


	16. Chapter 15

Chapter 15 - Search and Rescue

As Drag'lan finished his story, the group was rather confused.

"Wait a minute. So you're telling us your ancestors actually spoke to you?" Zer'lorg asked, her voice showing serious confusion.

"I think so. All I know is that I heard voices in my head." Drag'lan replied.

"Well, either way, Drag'lan has done something that no other person has done on their first hunt, to my knowledge; He has taken down not one, but TWO Abominations." Ter'thig said.

"'Abominations'?" Drag'lan said, confused.

"They're what you called the 'Predaliens'." Ter'thig explained."They are the unholy children of Yautja who are unfortunate enough to be impregnated by the Khainde Amedha."

"Right." Drag'lan said. "Well, let's get going again. We need to be ready for when the rescue party comes."

Drag'lan then stood up, as did the rest of the group. He walked over to Zer'lorg.

"Your leg better?" He asked her.

"Yes. It's fine now." She replied.

Drag'lan then walked back into the hallway, closely followed by the rest of the group.

Almost all of them gasped when they saw what happened to all of the Xenomorphs.

"You weren't kidding when you said you tore through them." Der'lorg said.

"You honestly doubted what I said?" Drag'lan asked.

"Only slightly." Der'lorg replied.

"Well, in any case, let's go." Drag'lan said. "I wouldn't wanna be caught here, you know what I mean?"

"I agree. If what my father has told me about the marines is true, then they already know you hacked into their system." Ter'thig said.

The group walked on, and Drag'lan caught the unmistakable sound of gunfire.

"Oh shit." He said. "The Xenos must be back. Let's go get more skulls."

The group all roared with zeal and they all charged out. Drag'lan grabbed the skulls of the Predaliens he had slain and stuck them on individual blades on his pauldrons as they went past. They got out without a problem and saw that indeed the Xenomorphs were attacking again, only this time in larger numbers, and Drag'lan could have sworn he saw a Praetorians or two in the mix.

The hunting group then picked their targets and engaged. Just like before, Drag'lan was cutting them down as they came, only he was doing it more efficiently, as he just let himself go. He even caught a few Marines in the process, but he didn't care about them. They were just in the way.

As the group was engaging the Xenos, Drag'lan's ears caught the sound of a Yautjan roar of victory. His head jerked up and he saw a Yautja leap off of the wall into the fray, put its back against his and start fighting the Xenos that came at them.

"We came as fast as we could." The Yautja said. "But we had an encounter with a couple Bad-blood ships."

"Good to see you too, Fral's dad." Drag'lan said, much relieved by the voice.

"Call me Breg'prole." He said.

Drag'lan nodded.

"You got it." He said.

Drag'lan heard more Yautjan roars, and saw multiple Yautja jump from the wall Breg'prole had just jump from into the compound. One of them looked very familiar. The armor matched, as did the body build.

"Fral?" He asked, unable to stop himself.

Much to his surprise, the Yautja nodded.

"It's me, Drag. We're here to get you five off this place. It's 'gone to hell in a handbasket', as the Oomans would say." She replied.

"I figured somebody had picked up the signal I sent." Drag'lan said.

"It wasn't just us. Bab-bloods managed to pick it up as well. They were probably opportunists, looking for any skull they could acquire." Breg'prole said.

"What do you mean 'were'?" Drag'lan asked.

"We intercepted them and managed to take them out." Breg'prole said.

"How many ships did you encounter altogether?" Drag'lan asked.

"Nowhere near as many as I had thought. Only 2." Breg'prole replied.

"Wow. I thought there would've been more." Drag'lan said.

"Well, I think there would've been more, but S'loss here." Breg'prole said, indicating a Predator that was abnormally large, coming in at 10 feet. "He met up with us after receiving the same signal we had received. I think he took care of the other bad-bloods."

Drag'lan marveled at S'loss's height. He hadn't seen anything like him. He watched as S'loss went piling into the fray, cleaving Xenos in half and just tearing through them.

Breg'prole then noticed the predalien heads on Drag'lan's pauldrons. Behind his mask, his eyes widened.

"Where did you manage to get those?" He asked, shocked.

"I took out 2 Predaliens. Isn't it obvious?" Drag'lan replied.

"You TOOK those from Abominations?" Breg'prole asked.

"Yes. It was hard, but nothing I couldn't do again." Drag'lan said.

Breg'prole started to reply, but a group of Xenos cut him off. They came at the trio, and they spread out. One tried to sneak up on Drag'lan, but he extended his wrist-blades, the first time he had, and swung his right arm back and down, slicing clean through its head. He pulled the blades up and jammed them into the abdomen of one that had leapt at him.

After he threw the Xeno from his wristblades, he pulled out Physique. He then started swinging it in swift strokes, cutting up all that came at him.

Breg'prole looked at this in shock. He had never seen something like this be done by anybody he had seen.

In Drag'lan's mind, a flashback to the solo op he had done ran.

_Drag'lan was sitting at one of the tables, his pistol taken apart for cleaning. He was nearly done. He heard someone approaching and turned around. He saw Lt. Davis and loosened up. Ever since his last mission, WY was trying to get at him. Luckily, the USCMC was keeping him mobile for the time being._

_"What's up, Lt?" He asked._

_"You've been requested for a special mission. The mission requires a Close-Quarters specialist, and you're the best we've got at this time. You think you're up to it?" Davis replied._

_"Damn right, I'm up to it. Let's do this." Drag'lan said._

_"Good man. But here. Take this with you." Davis said, unholstering his specialized magnum. Davis then held it out to Drag'lan._

_"I couldn't. That's your-"_

_"Just take the damn gun, Drag. You'll need something for subtlety. We both know that pistol and those blades of yours won't do it." Davis said, cutting Drag'lan off._

_"Alright, then. I'll take it, but I don't plan on using it." Drag'lan said, taking the magnum. Compared to his pistol, it was light, but Drag'lan could tell that it had seen Davis through some serious battles, the scratches and dings in it were proof enough of that._

_"Now. Here's how you reload it." Davis said, taking it back._

_Davis pressed a button on the side of the grip and the entire front of the gun just swung down. The 6-chamber housing then just popped out, he slid a new one in and brought the front of the gun back up._

_"Simple as that. Now you try." He said._

_Drag'lan did what Davis had done, but not as fast._

_"Well, you'll get better at it as you practice. You'll be fine." Davis said. "Either way, you'll probly be wanting to use either standard or Armor-piercing ammo for this op. It can take those, Explosive rounds, incendiary rounds. It's a jack-of-all-trades gun."_

_"Okay. When do I leave?" Drag'lan said._

_"4 hours. Grab what you need and get to the dropship. Oh, and one more thing." Davis said as Drag'lan started walking away. You'll be working with one Daniel McKenzie on this op. He'll give you a clear path to your objective. But be careful, he's a merc. No telling what he'll do."_

_Drag'lan nodded. "You got it."_

_Drag'lan then walked out._

_10 hours later..._

_Drag'lan was standing by the back gate to the compund he had to clear out._

_"In position. What about you, McKenzie?" He said into his headset._

_"Been waiting on you, Drag. Now give me a bit. I gotta take down the tower guards." McKenzie said._

_Drag'lan heard the sounds of four bullets flying above him, and saw 4 bodies fall to the ground._

_"They're down. You're on your own now." McKenzie said._

_"Okay. Will see you at the LZ." Drag'lan said._

_Drag'lan ducked into the compound and took cover behind a building. He saw a ladder and climbed on top of the building. He then went to the edge and crouched, looking at everyone in there. Many had standard Pulse Rifles, and a few even had what looked like army-issue shotguns._

Heh. Not like it matters._ Drag'lan thought. _They'll all die, just the same.

_He then unholstered his pistol and Davis's magnum. He had grabbed all armor-piercing ammunition to use on this mission. Yhey were the least noisey rounds that he knew. He spotted one that was standing off on their own and brought the magnum to bear. Then his code of honor kicked in and he lowered the magnum. He would take this one out with his knife._

_He leaped from building to building, moving silently, towards his target. He dropped to the ground and spun the target around, seeing the shock on his face before Drag'lan drove his knife underneath the guy's ribcage, piercing the heart. He fell to the ground silently and Drag'lan ducked into the shadows. He then slipped into the main building of the compound and froze. In his mind, there was no doubt why this place needed to be taken out; it was PACKED with Xeno eggs. He saw them in special pods to keep them safe, and a few just laying around. Luckily, he had been issued a large explosive charge for this mission, and now he knew why. He hid it in the corner of the room, behind a group of pods holding eggs. He set the timer for 15 minutes before booking it out of there. He usd what stealth tacitcs he could to avoid detection; His orders had been to plant the bomb and only take out those that got in his way._

_Drag'lan got out the same way he had entered without incident. He then made his way to the LZ. As he got on the ship, he felt a shockwave. The charge had gone off. His mission was now over._

Another Xeno, a Praetorian this time, brought him back to reality. It raised it's hand to hit him, but Fral came out of nowhere and jammed her spear into the side of its head. It fell over, dead. Fral then pulled her spear out, and Drag'lan caught sight of the ends of it. It must've been custom made, as both ends had halberd heads on them. She then brought it down, severing the head. She then turned to Drag'lan.

"What happened to you there? It looked like you just froze." She said.

Drag'lan shook his head.

"I'm not sure. Something about this reminded me of my past." Drag'lan replied.

"Well, let's get going. No telling when the Oomans will recover from this and attack us." A deep voice said.

Drag'lan turned around to see S'loss towering over the trio. He couldn't stop his jaw from dropping. He had never seen anybody that tall.

"I agree. Let's pull out." Breg'prole said.

"Everyone, form up and follow me." He roared for all to hear. Drag'lan's group stopped what they were doing and took what trophies they wanted. Then they all followed the rescue group into the jungle.

Drag'lan was keeping up with them easily. After a while, Breg'prole stopped. The rest did likewise. Drag'lan pulled up beside him.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"I'm not sure. Something just seems off, if that makes any sense." Breg'prole replied.

"I hear that." Drag'lan said. He also felt that something was off.

His feelings were proven correct not much later, as he heard the inhuman laugh of Yautja.

"Well, well, well. What have we here?" a voice said. It was somewhat high-pitched and sadistic.

As that was said, a small band of Yautja uncloaked. They all had one thing in common; They all had Human and Yautja skulls attached to posts on their backs. In total, there were only 8 of them, but they had enough gear to have a platoon geared up.

"Let's see. A newblood hunting party, a few veteran hunters, and what's this?" The leader said. The voice of this person matched the voice of the laugh. "I think I see an Omega in our midst."

At this, the leader gestured at S'loss. Drag'lan could see what would end up happening, and rested his hands on his great-swords. Luckily, S'loss was standing in front of him and hid what he was doing.

"I've never seen such a bountiful gathering. Get em." The leader said.

The entire rescue force, which was about 6 hunters, brought out their weapons. The group that stood before them brought out weapons as well and leaped into the group.

Drag'lan brought out his great-swords, their runes glowing a dark red, showing aggravation. He just wanted to get off this planet. He charged into the fray, attacking the leader directly, which also caught him off-guard.

"What's this? It looks like some under-developed hunter." He said, laughing.

"You would do well not to underestimate me." Drag'lan said, bringing his blades down, cutting some of the leader's dreadlocks off. "Then you won't be surprised to get your ass kicked."

"By who? You?" The leader said, trying to slash Drag'lan with his wrist-blades, but Drag'lan dodged every swing.

"Who else?" Drag'lan said. "Now grow a pair and FIGHT!"

The leader laughed briefly, still trying to land a blow on Drag'lan, but he continued to dodge the swings.

Drag'lan took a step back. He then dropped his swords.

"Since you don't seem to be able to keep up with me, I'll give you a free shot." Drag'lan said, spreading his arms. "Let's see what you've got."

It did what he had expected it to do; It provoked him into charging. He snickered and grinned.

_Too easy._ He thought.

As the leader came at him, Drag'lan side-stepped him and brought his left elbow crashing into his back. Drag'lan felt as well as heard the spikes drive into his flesh, and then his spine. The leader then fell, his spine having been severed.

Drag'lan walked over to him, knealed, flipped him over and picked his head up by the dreadlocks to eye level.

"You call yourself a warrior? You don't even classify as a threat to me. The only thing I can grant you now is a swift death." Drag'lan said, shaking his head in pity.

With that, Drag'lan brought out his secondary knife, flipped it over and drove it through the Yautja's neck. He watched as the blood spilled over his hands. He had never wanted this, but he had been driven to do it.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up. He saw Fral there.

"Let's go. There's nothing left for us to do." She said.

"Okay. Let's go." He said, standing up and following her.

They were led to a small group of ships, one obviously a transport and a pair of 1-man ships. He saw S'loss start walking towards one and ran towards him. He tapped S'loss on the back, and he turned around.

Drag'lan then held his hand out, saying "Hopefully we'll be able to spar together some time."

S'loss didn't say anything, just nodded and turned back to his ship.

Drag'lan lowered his hand and walked into the transport. It was time to head home.


	17. Chapter 16

**Note: This chapter is the start of a 5-chapter crossover with a friend I have on Deviantart, TheDarkBladeHuntress. I have permission to use her character, Luar-Ke-Sain'ja.**

Chapter 16- Rest, Recover, Return

Drag'lan took a seat and leaned against the wall, tired as hell; He didn't show it, but the day had taken a toll on his body.

He closed his eyes, his mind entering something of a meditative state. In truth, his body was slowing down to increase the healing speed he had. It didn't take long in that state for what damage he had acquired to heal.

Fral approached him, and noticed that he seemed asleep. She squatted next to him and gently shook him.

Drag'lan's eyes snapped open, and he saw Fral. He smiled.

"It's good to know that you were one of the group to rescue me. Now we can be called even, heh heh." He said.

"Yeah, I guess you can." Fral replied, laughing slightly.

"So, what did you need?" Drag'lan asked, his smile fading out.

"Oh, it's nothing. I just wanted to say that I'm glad you're alive." She said.

"Well, did you expect anything less from me?" Drag'lan asked.

"Not really, but that doesn't stop me from feeling glad that you survived." She replied.

Drag'lan's eyes narrowed slightly. It was now or never. It was time to ask that million dollar question.

"Fral, how much do you like me?" He asked, although he somewhat already knew.

"I've fallen in love with you, Drag. I fell in love with you after the bad-bloods attacked our ship. You treat me with the most respect anybody has ever treated me with. You're also one of the few people I feel safe around. When I'm around you, I feel as if nothing can harm me." Fral said, her eyes closed.

Drag'lan had seen that coming. He didn't know how, but he could tell that she felt deeply for him.

He nodded.

"I figured as much, Fral." Drag'lan said, smiling slightly. "The truth is, I feel the same way about you, only I felt this way since you've been looking after me."

Fral opened her eyes. Drag'lan saw that they were glowing slightly. She brought him up and hugged him. He hugged her back.

She released her hug, very happy that he feels the same way that she feels about him. Drag'lan surprised her even more than she thought. He first surprised her with the aura of kindness he had, the respect he gave her. Now he surprised her with how open he was with his love for her.

Drag'lan sat back down and leaned against the wall again. He closed his eyes and fell asleep for real.

When Drag'lan next woke up, he was in a large bed, he had only his marine fatigues on, and there was light on his face. He squinted slightly and sat up. He heard something cooking and also heard something that had to be a yautja singing. So, he got out of the bed and walked into the hall.

As he walked out into the hall, he heard something stir beside him. He instinctively moved, his left arm blocking a fist as it was coming towards his head. His right arm then came within mere inches of hitting Greth'ler.

"Heh heh. You'll never learn, will you?" He asked, well knowing the answer.

"Nope. You know me, always acting the assassin." Greth'ler replied, laughing as well.

Fral walked out into the hall as she heard this. She saw Drag'lan up and about and walked over to him.

"It's good to see you up and about, Drag'lan." She said.

"I know. How long was I sleeping for?" Drag'lan asked.

"About 10 hours. Do you always sleep like that?" Fral said.

"Whenever I was on R&R, I would sleep like that. Living as a Reaper was tough. We normally got 1 day of R&R before getting called out again, and that was if we were lucky." Drag'lan replied.

"R&R?" Fral asked.

"Rest and Recuperation. It's the military term for vacation." Drag'lan explained.

"Ah." Fral said. She then turned to Greth'ler. "Well, in any case, it's just about time for breakfast. Greth'ler, weren't you gonna go on your hunt in an hour?"

"Oh, right." Greth'ler said, turning to leave. "Been good seeing you, Drag'lan. See you around."

Drag'lan nodded. "See ya." He said.

Fral looked at Drag'lan. "So. Tell me all about your hunt." She said.

Drag'lan walked into the kitchen, telling her about what happened.

She was confused at the part when he spoke about what happened with his blades.

"So your ancestors spoke to you?" She asked.

"In a way. I think that the fact that my blades had the blood of my ancestors added when they were forged allowed it. Other than that, I have no idea." Drag'lan replied. "In any case, after that, we got the transmitter working and you know the rest."

Fral nodded. She walked over to the stove and took breakfast off of it. She had made a meat that was reminiscent of bacon, only much thicker, as well as some mix of grains that looked like oatmeal. She then put the meat onto 2 separate plates and the oatmeal-looking mix into 2 bowls.

Drag'lan tried the grain mix and found that it was actually oatmeal, only much thicker and chewier. The meat was the same way, chewier than bacon, but also much sweeter. This was no doubt due to Fral's cooking experience. He looked at her.

"Good meal. The meat really compliments the other dish." He said.

"You expected differently?" She asked.

"Nope. Just saying that I like it." Drag'lan replied.

After they were done, Drag'lan stood up.

"I'll be at the closest park. I want to get some training in with my blades." He said.

Fral nodded. "Okay." She said.

Drag'lan walked back into the bedroom, looking for his harness. He found them laying against the wall. Without hesitation, he put it on and walked outside.

As he walked outside, he saw yautja just staring at him. He ignored them and kept walking towards a park that he knew. When he arrived, he walked to a secluded part of it and pulled out Toxin and Regoll. He crossed them in front of himself and bowed. He then started spinning, swinging the blades in a large arc. He felt eyes upon him again, and didn't care this time. He just kept going. However, over the time that he was swinging, he noticed one person in particular. It was Fral's mom. He slowed down, and eventually stopped. She beckoned to him and walked away. He sheathed his blades and followed her.

When he caught up with her, she turned around and looked him in the eyes.

"I'm sorry for how I treated you. I now see that you are as trustworthy as Ter'thig sees you to be. Your actions with the hunting group you were with is proof of that." She said.

"I accept your apology." Drag'lan said. "However, I can't say that I respect you yet. Deeming me as untrustworthy on the spot is a very heinous act to me."

Fral's mother nodded. "That is acceptable. I hope to make amends."

"I think you will." Drag'lan said, turning away. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to talk to Fral'drylx about something."

Without waiting for her to answer, Drag'lan walked back to Fral's house.

When he arrived, he saw her dad in the living room and her sitting on the couch.

"I was waiting for you to return." She said. "I've been telling my dad about what happened when the Bad-bloods attacked us."

"Well, I might also be able to explain something about that." Drag'lan said.

"Oh really?" Fral's dad said, raising his brow in confusion.

"She told you about how I decapitated the Bad-blood, right?" Drag'lan asked.

"Somewhat. The details were fuzzy." Fral's dad replied.

"Well, let me give you the truth..." Drag'lan started.

After Drag'lan retold what happened to the bad-blood, Fral's dad shook his head.

"Why didn't you just say that at times you go berserk?" He asked.

"I didn't want you to think of me as unstable." Drag'lan replied.

"Why would I do that?" Fral's dad asked. "I know other berserkers. Now, I've gotta go for a bit. I'm heading out on a hunt as well."

"So soon?" Fral asked. "We just got back."

"I know it's soon. However, I need to do this." Fral's dad replied. "It's to loosen up from the last day."

Fral nodded. "I understand."

With that, her dad walked out. After, Drag'lan sat next to her, he put his hand on her leg.

"It's gonna be alright." He said. "If I've read him as well as I can read others, he's a survivor, same as me."

Fral nodded. "I know." She said. "However, he's the closest thing I've known to a father. If he didn't come back, I'd feel like a part of me was missing."

Drag'lan put his arms around her and hugged her.

"Come." He said, releasing the hug and standing up. "Let me see what I can cook up to cheer you up. My mom taught me some culinary things, so I'll see what I can do."

She followed him...

~

1 week later

~

Drag'lan was standing in front of the ship he had been given. He had bypassed the whole armory/trophy room and, in it's place, put a large training arena. It had multiple large targets for him to use to practice punching and kicking on. It was like Fral's ship in every other way.

Fral approached him. She slipped an arm around his chest.

"So, you're going out on your first hunt on your own." She said.

Drag'lan nodded.

"Yep." He said, turning to look at her. "However, I'll return. You know this. I did with the last one, and this won't be any different."

Fral nodded.

"That I do. However," She said, turning to look at him. "You also have a knack for violence. Try to take as many trophies as you can. It'll help you gain respect."

Drag'lan shook his head.

"I can't do that." He said. "Not according to what I was taught. I will only take trophies of those that are a challenge. The Predaliens I took out were challenges. Regollen have a strong respect for the dead. They hold such a deep respect for the dead that after battles, they will bury the bodies of those that fought against them."

Fral looked at him with surprise.

"I also don't plan on using this much." Drag'lan said, gesturing the weapon pod that was carefully equipped to his right pauldron. "It was built for more stunning than killing, but it will kill anyway. It may target where I look, but it won't lock on to any target."

Fral nodded. That sounded much like him. He always normally preferred to enter melee combat.

"Well, either way, good luck, Jehdin-Sain'ja." She said.

"Why did you call me that?" Drag'lan asked.

"Oh, it's how some other Yautja are referring to you as. It fits, as you're a very solitary person, and it means 'Solitary Warrior'." Fral replied.

Drag'lan nodded.

"That it does, that it does." He said. "Well, either way, it's about time for me to head out. I'll see you when I get back."

Fral nodded.

"Good luck out there." She said.

Drag'lan started walking towards the ship when she spun him around, picked him up, and put her face over his.

_What the..._ He thought. _What is she doing?_

He had just finished thinking that when he felt a tongue run along his lips.

_Oh..._ he thought. _She's trying to kiss me._

He parted his lips enough for her tongue to enter his mouth before pulling back.

"Next time you do that, warn me, Fral." He said as she lowered him. He shuddered slightly. "That was really odd."

She did what would be best described as a grin.

"Alright, Drag." She said, as he turned and entered the ship.

~

1 day later

~

Drag'lan looked at his target hunting planet. It was one he knew the USCMC had colonized. He had wanted to visit this planet ever since he had started training to join the Reapers.

"Here we are. This place is one I've always wanted to visit once or twice." He said to himself.

As he descended into the planet's atmosphere, he activated his ship's cloaking field, rendering it invisible. He didn't want to befall the fate of the previous hunt.

He flew over the planet, noting the large jungle environment.

_Why is it always a jungle?_ He thought. _I'll ask Fral that when I get back._

He landed and got out. He took a quick look around before cracking his neck a bit and stretching. He then set off into the jungle. He saw multiple things that he hadn't before. As he kept moving, he heard the sounds of the jungle and animals.

After about an hour of walking, he felt as if he were being watched again. He stopped and glanced around. He didn't see anything, but the feeling remained. He shook it off and kept walking. A half-hour later, he caught the sound of growls and snarls. His right hand instinctively reached for the handle of Toxin, but he instead flipped the panel of his left bracer up and pressed in a button sequence, powering up his plasma caster. It came out and he closed the panel and reached for the hilts of Toxin and Regoll. The moment he did, he heard something crashing through the jungle and pulled the blades out. With a vocal command, the plasma caster revved up, and the laser target system he had manually installed turned on, causing the characteristic triple dot symbol to show up.

After he did that, a large group of reptiles entered his area. He hadn't seen anything like them before, but he knew that they weren't curious about him in any way. Their body postures showed that. There were about 8 of them in his sight, all standing about 6 feet tall. They were like reptiles he had been told that lived on Earth. The ones he had been told about were called Komodo Dragons. Drag'lan assumed these were relatives of them.

_Well well..._ He thought. _This might actually be interesting._

They all came at him at once, striking from all directions. The pair that had the bad luck to attack him from the front ended up getting their faces blasted to hell by his plasmacaster. One that attacked from his left managed to headbutt him square in the side where his kidney was. He coughed as the wind was knocked out of him. He swung Toxin at it, catching it in the left shoulder. The entire left arm of the creature was severed from the blow, but another clamped its jaws down on his upper right arm. He responded by stabbing it through the side of its thick neck with Regoll. This caused it to release him. He noticed in the corner of his eye that one was coming at him full speed, intent on charging into his chest. He turned and took a knee, with his left pauldron facing the reptile. It ended up impaling itself on the blades.

The sixth one came close to clamping its jaws around his neck, but a quick slice across its legs saw to that, severing them cleanly. He noticed that it was still alive and brought Toxin down on it, cutting it in half. He then got caught by one square in the chest and went tumbling, losing his grip on Toxin and Regoll as they went. This didn't phase him at all. When they stopped tumbling, he held the creature's head back, even as it continued to snap at his left arm, reaching for Ethereal with his right arm. It managed to claw at his armor, seriously scratching it. The claws then dragged across his arm that was holding its head back. The pain was negligible, but he was quickly getting annoyed.

"Oh, fuck this!" He yelled, and he fired the plasma caster at point black range into the creatures head, hitting it square in its mouth as it opened to snap at him again. There was massive blood splatter as it exploded under the impact. The flash pretty damn near blinded Drag'lan. His vision grew blurry, but he could make out just enough to see the final one manage to clamp it's jaws around his leg. It dented the metal seriously, and he could've sworn he felt something crack. He roared and brought his combat knife out. He then hoisted himself up, stabbed it square in the eye, stood up, sheathing his knife and limping back to where he had been tackled. He grabbed Toxin and Regoll. His vision started to black out. Before he blacked out completely, he saw the ground rushing up to meet him, and then darkness took him.

Chapter 16- Rest, Recover, Return

Drag'lan took a seat and leaned against the wall, tired as hell; He didn't show it, but the day had taken a toll on his body.

He closed his eyes, his mind entering something of a meditative state. In truth, his body was slowing down to increase the healing speed he had. It didn't take long in that state for what damage he had acquired to heal.

Fral approached him, and noticed that he seemed asleep. She squatted next to him and gently shook him.

Drag'lan's eyes snapped open, and he saw Fral. He smiled.

"It's good to know that you were one of the group to rescue me. Now we can be called even, heh heh." He said.

"Yeah, I guess you can." Fral replied, laughing slightly.

"So, what did you need?" Drag'lan asked, his smile fading out.

"Oh, it's nothing. I just wanted to say that I'm glad you're alive." She said.

"Well, did you expect anything less from me?" Drag'lan asked.

"Not really, but that doesn't stop me from feeling glad that you survived." She replied.

Drag'lan's eyes narrowed slightly. It was now or never. It was time to ask that million dollar question.

"Fral, how much do you like me?" He asked, although he somewhat already knew.

"I've fallen in love with you, Drag. I fell in love with you after the bad-bloods attacked our ship. You treat me with the most respect anybody has ever treated me with. You're also one of the few people I feel safe around. When I'm around you, I feel as if nothing can harm me." Fral said, her eyes closed.

Drag'lan had seen that coming. He didn't know how, but he could tell that she felt deeply for him.

He nodded.

"I figured as much, Fral." Drag'lan said, smiling slightly. "The truth is, I feel the same way about you, only I felt this way since you've been looking after me."

Fral opened her eyes. Drag'lan saw that they were glowing slightly. She brought him up and hugged him. He hugged her back.

She released her hug, very happy that he feels the same way that she feels about him. Drag'lan surprised her even more than she thought. He first surprised her with the aura of kindness he had, the respect he gave her. Now he surprised her with how open he was with his love for her.

Drag'lan sat back down and leaned against the wall again. He closed his eyes and fell asleep for real.

When Drag'lan next woke up, he was in a large bed, he had only his marine fatigues on, and there was light on his face. He squinted slightly and sat up. He heard something cooking and also heard something that had to be a yautja singing. So, he got out of the bed and walked into the hall.

As he walked out into the hall, he heard something stir beside him. He instinctively moved, his left arm blocking a fist as it was coming towards his head. His right arm then came within mere inches of hitting Greth'ler.

"Heh heh. You'll never learn, will you?" He asked, well knowing the answer.

"Nope. You know me, always acting the assassin." Greth'ler replied, laughing as well.

Fral walked out into the hall as she heard this. She saw Drag'lan up and about and walked over to him.

"It's good to see you up and about, Drag'lan." She said.

"I know. How long was I sleeping for?" Drag'lan asked.

"About 10 hours. Do you always sleep like that?" Fral said.

"Whenever I was on R&R, I would sleep like that. Living as a Reaper was tough. We normally got 1 day of R&R before getting called out again, and that was if we were lucky." Drag'lan replied.

"R&R?" Fral asked.

"Rest and Relaxation. It's the military term for vacation." Drag'lan explained.

"Ah." Fral said. She then turned to Greth'ler. "Well, in any case, it's just about time for breakfast. Greth'ler, weren't you gonna go on your hunt in an hour?"

"Oh, right." Greth'ler said, turning to leave. "Been good seeing you, Drag'lan. See you around."

Drag'lan nodded. "See ya." He said.

Fral looked at Drag'lan. "So. Tell me all about your hunt." She said.

Drag'lan walked into the kitchen, telling her about what happened.

She was confused at the part when he spoke about what happened with his blades.

"So your ancestors spoke to you?" She asked.

"In a way. I think that the fact that my blades had the blood of my ancestors added when they were forged allowed it. Other than that, I have no idea." Drag'lan replied. "In any case, after that, we got the transmitter working and you know the rest."

Fral nodded. She walked over to the stove and took breakfast off of it. She had made a meat that was reminiscent of bacon, only much thicker, as well as some mix of grains that looked like oatmeal. She then put the meat onto 2 separate plates and the oatmeal-looking mix into 2 bowls.

Drag'lan tried the grain mix and found that it was actually oatmeal, only much thicker and chewier. The meat was the same way, chewier than bacon, but also much sweeter. This was no doubt due to Fral's cooking experience. He looked at her.

"Good meal. The meat really compliments the other dish." He said.

"You expected differently?" She asked.

"Nope. Just saying that I like it." Drag'lan replied.

After they were done, Drag'lan stood up.

"I'll be at the closest park. I want to get some training in with my blades." He said.

Fral nodded. "Okay." She said.

Drag'lan walked back into the bedroom, looking for his harness. He found them laying against the wall. Without hesitation, he put it on and walked outside.

As he walked outside, he saw yautja just staring at him. He ignored them and kept walking towards a park that he knew. When he arrived, he walked to a secluded part of it and pulled out Toxin and Regoll. He crossed them in front of himself and bowed. He then started spinning, swinging the blades in a large arc. He felt eyes upon him again, and didn't care this time. He just kept going. However, over the time that he was swinging, he noticed one person in particular. It was Fral's mom. He slowed down, and eventually stopped. She beckoned to him and walked away. He sheathed his blades and followed her.

When he caught up with her, she turned around and looked him in the eyes.

"I'm sorry for how I treated you. I now see that you are as trustworthy as Ter'thig sees you to be. Your actions with the hunting group you were with are proof of that." She said.

"I accept your apology." Drag'lan said. "However, I can't say that I respect you yet. Deeming me as untrustworthy on the spot is a very heinous act to me."

Fral's mother nodded. "That is acceptable. I hope to make amends."

"I think you will." Drag'lan said, turning away. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to talk to Fral'drylx about something."

Without waiting for her to answer, Drag'lan walked back to Fral's house.

When he arrived, he saw her dad in the living room and her sitting on the couch.

"I was waiting for you to return." She said. "I've been telling my dad about what happened when the Bad-bloods attacked us after we first met."

"Well, I might also be able to explain something about that." Drag'lan said.

"Oh really?" Fral's dad said, raising his brow in confusion.

"She told you about how I decapitated the Bad-blood, right?" Drag'lan asked.

"Somewhat. The details were fuzzy." Fral's dad replied.

"Well, let me give you the truth..." Drag'lan started.

After Drag'lan retold what happened to the bad-blood, Fral's dad shook his head.

"Why didn't you just say that at times you go berserk?" He asked.

"I didn't want you to think of me as unstable." Drag'lan replied.

"Why would I do that?" Fral's dad asked. "I know other berserkers. Now, I've gotta go for a bit. I'm heading out on a hunt as well."

"So soon?" Fral asked. "We just got back."

"I know it's soon. However, I need to do this." Fral's dad replied. "It's to loosen up from the last day."

Fral nodded. "I understand."

With that, her dad walked out. After, Drag'lan sat next to her, he put his hand on her leg.

"It's gonna be alright." He said. "If I've read him as well as I can read others, he's a survivor, same as me."

Fral nodded. "I know." She said. "However, he's the closest thing I've known to a father. If he didn't come back, I'd feel like a part of me was missing."

Drag'lan put his arms around her and hugged her.

"Come." He said, releasing the hug and standing up. "Let me see what I can cook up to cheer you up. My mom taught me some culinary things, so I'll see what I can do."

She followed him...

1 week later

Drag'lan was standing in front of the ship he had been given. He had bypassed the whole armory/trophy room and, in it's place, put a large training arena. It had multiple large targets for him to use to practice punching and kicking on. It was like Fral's ship in every other way.

Fral approached him. She slipped an arm around his chest.

"So, you're going out on your first hunt on your own." She said.

Drag'lan nodded.

"Yep." He said, turning to look at her. "However, I'll return. You know this. I did with the last one, and this won't be any different."

Fral nodded.

"That I do. However," She said, turning to look at him. "You also have a knack for violence. Try to take as many trophies as you can. It'll help you gain respect."

Drag'lan shook his head.

"I can't do that." He said. "Not according to what I was taught. I will only take trophies of those that are a challenge. The Predaliens I took out were challenges. Regollen have a strong respect for the dead. They hold such a deep respect for the dead that after battles, they will bury the bodies of those that fought against them."

Fral looked at him with surprise.

"I also don't plan on using this much." Drag'lan said, gesturing the weapon pod that was carefully equipped to his right pauldron. "It was built to be for stunning more than killing, but it will kill anyway. It may target where I look, but it won't lock on to any target."

Fral nodded. That sounded much like him; He always normally preferred to enter melee combat.

"Well, either way, good luck, Jehdin-Sain'ja." She said.

"Why did you call me that?" Drag'lan asked.

"Oh, it's how some other Yautja are referring to you as. It fits, as you're a very solitary person, and it means 'Solitary Warrior'." Fral replied.

Drag'lan nodded.

"That it does, that it does." He said. "Well, either way, it's about time for me to head out. I'll see you when I get back."

Fral nodded.

"Good luck out there." She said.

Drag'lan started walking towards the ship when she spun him around, picked him up, and put her face over his.

_What the..._ He thought. _What is she doing?_

He had just finished thinking that when he felt a tongue run along his lips.

_Oh..._ he thought. _She's trying to kiss me._

He parted his lips enough for her tongue to enter his mouth before pulling back.

"Next time you do that, warn me, Fral." He said as she lowered him. He shuddered slightly. "That was really odd."

She did what would be best descrbed as a grin.

"Alright, Drag." She said, as he turned and entered the ship.

1 day later

Drag'lan looked at his target hunting planet. It was one he knew the USCMC had colonized. He had wanted to visit this planet ever since he had started training to join the Reapers.

"Here we are. This place is one I've always wanted to visit once or twice." He said to himself.

As he descended into the planet's atmosphere, he activated his ship's cloaking field, rendering it invisible. He didn't want to befall the fate of the previous hunt.

He flew over the planet, noting the large jungle environment.

_Why is it alwayas a jungle?_ He thought. _I'll ask Fral that when I get back._

He landed and got out. He took a quick look around before cracking his neck a bit and stretching. He then set off into the jungle. He saw multiple things that he hadn't before. As he kept moving, he heard the sounds of the jungle and animals.

After about an hour of walking, he felt as if he were being watched again. He stopped and glanced around. He didn't see anything, but the feeling remained. He shook it off and kept walking. A half-hour later, he caught the sound of growls and snarls. His right hand instinctively reached for the handle of Toxin, but he instead flipped the panel of his left bracer up and pressed in a button sequence, powering up his plasma caster. It came out and he closed the panel and reached for the hilts of Toxin and Regoll. The moment he did, he heard something crashing through the jungle and pulled the blades out. With a vocal command, the plasma caster revved up, and the laser target system he had manually installed turned on, causing the characteristic triple dot symbol to show up.

After he did that, a large group of reptiles entered his area. He hadn't seen anything like them before, but he knew that they weren't curious about him in any way. Their body postures showed that. There were about 8 of them in his sight, all standing about 6 feet tall. They were like reptiles he had been told that lived on Earth. They were called Komodo Dragons. Drag'lan assumed these were relatives of them.

_Well well..._ He thought. _This might actually be interesting._

They all came at him at once, striking from all directions. The one that had the bad luck to attack him from the front ended up getting a face-full of Plasma. One that attacked from his left managed to headbutt him square in the side where his kidney was. He coughed as the wind was knocked out of him. He swung Toxin at it, catching it in the left shoulder. The entire left arm of the creature was severed from the blow, but another clamped its jaws down on his upper right arm. He responded by stabbing it through the side of its thick neck with Regoll. This caused it to release him. He noticed in the corner of his eye that one was coming at him full speed, intent on charging into his chest. He turned and took a knee, with his left pauldron facing the reptile. It ended up impaling itself on the blades.

The sixth one came close to clamping its jaws around his neck, but a quick slice across its legs saw to that, severing them cleanly. He noticed that it was still alive and brought Toxin down on it, cutting it in half. He then got caught by one square in the chest and went tumbling, losing his grip on Toxin and Regoll as they went. This didn't phase him at all. When they stopped tumbling, he held the creature's head back, even as it continnued to snap at his left arm, reaching for Ethereal with his right arm. It managed to claw at his armor, seriously scratching it. The claws then dragged across his arm that was holding its head back.

"Oh, fuck this!" He yelled, and he fired the plasma caster at point black range into the creatures head. There was massive blood splatter as it expoded under the impact. The flash pretty damn near blinded Drag'lan. His vision grew very blurry, but he could make out just enough to see the final one manage to clamp it's jaws around his leg. It dented the metal seriously, and he could've sworn he felt a bone fracture. He roared and brought his combat knife out. He then stabbed it square in the eye before getting up, sheathing his knife and limping back to where he was tackled. He grabbed Toxin and Regoll. His vision started to black out. Before he blacked out completely, he saw the ground rushing up to meet him, and knew nothing after.


	18. Chapter 17

Chapter 17- Unforeseen Intervention

Drag'lan phased in between consciousness and unconsciousness, but he knew that he was being carried. He was too weak from the blood loss he had sustained as well as the bacteria that he had been told that grew in their mouths to do anything, however. After a bit, he completely blacked out.

When next he gained consciousness, he didn't completely open his eyes. What he saw through the slits of his open eyes, he saw that a Yautja was cleaning his wounds. He still had his armor on, but they had removed his mask. He got a slight glimpse of their face, catching sky blue eyes.

_That's not like anybody I've ever seen before..._ He thought. _Who are they?_

Apparently, they noticed that he had awakened, as they stood up and walked away. Drag'lan fully opened his eyes and blinked a bit, the bright light overwhelming his eyes. Once his vision came back into focus, he saw that he was in a bathroom of sorts, and a bowl filled with water was laying next to him. He saw that his blood was dispersed throughout the water, giving it an odd blue glow. He sat up and noticed that his blades were all missing, including his secondary knife. Luckily, his harness was still on, but that was hardly surprising, as it was covered partially by his shoulder-plates.

Drag'lan then stood up. He looked around, and noticed that the bathroom was much like Fral's. It had a different feel to it, like there was a constant state of nervousness in it. As he turned, he heard the door open and the same Yautja with the sky blue yes enter. He took his chance to start questioning them.

"Who the hell are you?" He asked, rather forcefully.

Right after he asked that, he noticed that the Yautja was a female. She looked young, even by Yautjan standards; If he were to put a human age to her, he'd say she was 18 or 19. She looked rather taken aback when he said that. He decided to try a different set of words.

"I'm sorry if I insulted you or anything. May I please know your name?" He said.

She seemed a bit calmer after he had spoken the second time.

"My name is Luar-Ke-Sain'ja. It is only fair to tell me your name as well." She replied, her voice showing caution, most likely from how he had addressed her the first time.

"I am Drag'lan." Drag'lan said, trying to sound peaceful. It seemed to work, as she loosened up, as her body posture showed unease.

"It sounds much like a Yautjan name." Luar-ke-Sain'ja said, now starting to sound curious.

Drag'lan laughed.

"You're not the first one to tell me that. Either way, my name sounds Yautjan, but it was my mother who named me. The name means 'Bringer of Death' in my language." Drag'lan replied.

"Your language? I thought you were human." she said, her head tilted to the side in confusion.

Drag'lan laughed again.

"Look at my eyes." He said, approaching her.

She had to lean down a bit, as she was a full half foot taller than him, if he was measuring correctly. As she looked into his eyes, her own widened in knowledge.

"Wow. I haven't seen anything like that" She said.

"I get them from an old family gene. I'm a Regollen. The fact that I look like a human is pure coincidence. Let's just say that I can take a ton of punishment from enemies and am very strong due to my genes." Drag'lan replied. "Also, you're not the first person to be shocked by my eyes."

Luar looked at him with what could be understanding.

"That explains why you were able to take out 8 adolescent Gnash Dragons the way you did. It was a surprise you did that well." She replied.

Drag'lan smirked.

"You're not like the others." He said.

"What do you mean?" Luar asked.

"Almost every other Yautja I've met has doubted my abilities. Why don't you?" He replied.

"I suppose it's because I've seen what you can do first-hand." Luar said.

"I'm gonna guess that you were the one watching me, am I right?" Drag'lan asked her.

"Yes, but how did you know?" She replied.

"I have a knack for knowing when I'm being watched. I didn't know where you were, but I knew I was being watched." Drag'lan answered.

"So you're paranoid." Luar said.

"I wouldn't say paranoid as much as attentive." Drag'lan replied. "My father trained me in the wilderness. He would leave me on my own and strike at random times. He taught me to be aware of my surroundings to the point of knowing when one was being watched. However, that had the side-effect of making me seem rather paranoid."

"So, your father was a warrior?" Luar asked.

"He was more than just a warrior. From him, I learned how to channel anger into strength and control my rage." Drag'lan said. "Though he did have some help from my mother. She was the more peaceful one, and also helped me to control my anger."

"Sounds like that took extensive training." Luar said.

"It did take extensive training. Both my father and mother trained me for about 30 years. Before you ask, Regollen age slower than humans, which is why I've lived for over 30 years, yet look like I'm about 20." Drag'lan said.

"I wasn't going to ask." Luar said.

"Well, then. Where did you put my blades and mask?" Drag'lan asked her.

"That's what I was going to get, but then I heard you stir and came back to check on you." Luar said.

"On that note, where are we headed? I need to be able to contact the clan I'm a part of." Drag'lan said.

"We're on our way to my clan's planet." Luar replied.

"How long do we have until we reach there?" Drag'lan said.

"Not that long. Maybe a day at the most." Luar said.

"Well, could you please return my blades to me then?" Drag'lan asked.

"Yes, I can." Luar said, walking out.

Drag'lan sat down and extended his wrist-blades. He was surprised he hadn't just used them against that Gnash Dragons, as Luar put them.

"Just didn't come to mind, I guess." He muttered to himself.

Not much later, Luar walked back in, carrying his blades in a bundle under one arm and his secondary knife in the other. She set them on the ground.

"How can you wield such large blades together?" She asked him.

"Years of practice. My father taught me to wield those both." Drag'lan replied, standing up and grabbing a hold of Toxin and Regoll. As he did, he felt them vibrate, as if in happiness. Bypassing this, he sheathed them, and repeated this for the other blades.

"Well, that's better." Drag'lan said.

"Now that I see you with the blades in their sheaths, the armor build fits you." Luar said

"I had it made for that reason." Drag'lan said.

"Oh, that reminds me. I saw that one of those Gnash Dragons impaled itself on the blades. How sharp are those?" She asked.

"As sharp as your wristblades, or mine, for that matter." Drag'lan said.

"You mind if I feel them?" Luar asked him, curious still.

"Not at all." Drag'lan said, un-latching one of them and handing it over to her.

As Luar felt the pauldron, Drag'lan started unlatching all of his armor. He set it down against the wall and sat next to it.

After she was done, she handed it back.

"It looks like it was made by Yautjan hands." She said.

"That's because it was, for the most part. I had made such an abstract design that the forgemaster had to have me assist him in the making of it." Drag'lan.

"What makes it so abstract?" Luar asked.

"Well the blades are first and foremost. Also, I didn't have a cloaking device installed in my bracer." Drag'lan said.

"Wait, so you don't use a cloaking device? What kind of hunter are you?" Luar asked.

Drag'lan's gaze hardened. When he next spoke, there was a stern tone in his voice, with a hint of annoyance.

"Let's get something straight here. You're the hunter, not me. I am a warrior, and a true warrior doesn't use stealth, as they don't need it to take out an enemy."

Luar looked at him with doubt.

"But that would be a major disadvantage if you needed to retreat for some reason." She asked.

"The true warrior never retreats. If they are to die, then they do so with dignity and honor in combat. Any Regollen that was caught retreating was killed on sight." Drag'lan said.

"The Regollen sound like they were very ordered." Luar said.

"They were, until they entered a civil war and ultimately wiped themselves out. I have only seen one other Regollen in my life." Drag'lan said.

At this point, Luar finally noticed that Drag'lan was wearing marine fatigues. She leaped back a bit, automatically on the defensive.

"Who are you truly?" She asked him.

Drag'lan looked at her in confusion.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"Don't play dumb with me. I can see your Marine clothes. Who are you?" She responded, only more authoritative this time.

Drag'lan looked down. He then laughed.

"I may have been a marine a while back, but they left me to die. I wear this because it helps me to blend in with the marines if I were to return for something." He said. "So there's nothing you need to worry about."

Drag'lan noticed that Luar seemed to loosen up slightly after this, but was still on the defense. This didn't affect him much, as he had grown accustomed to people being suspicious of him.

He stood up and put his armor back on.

"Believe me or don't believe me. It's your call. I have always left it up to an individual to make up their own damn minds." He said. He leaned against the wall and looked at Luar with a neutral gaze.

Luar looked at him with a neutral gaze as well.

"I can't understand why you are so open." Luar said.

"Trust me, I'm not as open as I seem to be." Drag'lan said, crossing his arms.

"I mean so open-minded." Luar said.

"What's the point in having so many people if they can't have a variety of thoughts?" Drag'lan asked.

"That's a good point. Either way, what were you doing on the planet?" Luar said.

"Me? I was just checking it out, seeing what I could see. I was also hunting, but more for a challenge, and I must say, that group of Gnash Dragons gave me more trouble than I thought they would." Drag'lan said. "But then again, I have never fought anything like them, and that doesn't help."

"No, it doesn't." Luar said. "But still, I'm surprised you did so well against such a large group of them. Another hunter might have had a much harder time, especially since they were easily about your height."

"If there is one thing I'm known for, it's surviving. I've fought for my life more than most, as my father never used training swords. It was either real blades or hand-to-hand combat all the way. That training gave me phenomenal survival skills." Drag'lan said. "There was only one rule to Regollen combat: Kill your enemy before they can kill you. It's that simple."

"Then how did your father avoid getting killed by you?" Luar asked.

"That's simple: He didn't want to kill his son. He would always cut me and everything, but they'd be minor. Once I had finished my training, we had gone on vacation. After that, well, let's just say I plan on keeping that personal." Drag'lan said.

"Well, I'm getting tired. I could always set up something for you if you would like." Luar said.

"I'll be fine." Drag'lan said.

"As you wish." Luar said, walking out.

Drag'lan sat back down and leaned against the wall. He didn't feel sleepy, but closed his eyes anyway. Apparently, he did fall asleep, because he started dreaming again.


	19. Chapter 18

Chapter 18 - Meeting new faces

Drag'lan's dream was really weird this time, even for him.

_He was running through a Predator ship, but the hallways were seemingly endless. All along the side of him, he saw Fral's face. However, as he kept running, the face slowly changed from that to Luar's. That only made him run faster. Then the faces just vanished. In front of him, small, but gradually growing larger, was Fral. As he approached she opened her arms as if to embrace him. Then, just like the faces, the body transformed into that of Luar's. He tried to slow down, but it was too late. He fell into her embrace, and then everything went black._

Drag'lan came to with a violent jerk. He felt sweat on his face and forehead. he then noticed that he was holding his secondary knife out, and quickly sheathed it. He leaned back against the wall and started breathing deeply to calm down.

_Ok, Drag. It was just a dream. Nothing meant in it at all. Just calm down. _He thought, telling himself to calm down.

It seemed to work, as his slight adrenaline rush faded. He stood up and walked over to the sink. He then turned on the water and ran cold water over his face. He grabbed a nearby towel and dried his face off. He then grabbed his armor and re-equipped it. After that, he looked around, seeing how tall and wide the room was. If he were to do what he normally did, the ceiling of the room would get in the way of both his great-swords and his short-swords.

_Well, might as well see if I can meditate then._He thought.

However, before he could, Luar walked in. They locked eyes for a bit before she broke the silence.

"I'm surprised to see you up." She said.

"I always wake up early nowadays. In the Reapers, if you didn't, let's just say that you wouldn't like the outcome." Drag'lan said. "The first and last time that happened to me, I had a large bucket of crushed ice dumped over my sorry ass. Not fun."

"The Reapers?" Luar asked, confused.

"Specialist unit in the Marines." Drag'lan said. "To put them in a nutshell, the Reapers are called in when shit hits the fan, normally concerning the Khainde Amedha, or the humans that spread them."

Luar nodded. "So they were cleansers." She said.

"In a sense." Drag'lan said. "However, if my information is correct, the Reapers are actually a mercenary band that is permanently hired into the Marines."

"Either way, would you mind leaving? I plan on bathing before we arrive at my clan's planet." Luar said.

"Very well. But would you mind if I waited in the cockpit then? I just like seeing the stars go by." Drag'lan replied.

"Not at all. However, if you alter the controls in any way, I'll kill you. Understand?" Luar said.

Drag'lan nodded and walked out of the bathroom. As he walked towards the cockpit, he glanced into each of the rooms. They were basic ideas, such as an armory and a living quarters. However, at a passing glance, it was impossible to know.

When he entered, he sat in the seat and had a flashback to one mission when he was in the Reapers.

_He was standing in the cockpit with the pilot and Davis._

"What's going on?" Davis asked. "We're still not getting a signal from the surface?"

"Sorry, sir, but no." The pilot said. "We're still getting nothing on comms."

"Crap. Any word from the other squad we're supposed to group up with?" Davis asked.

"Same thing, sir." The pilot said. "There's nothing but static. I'll keep trying though."

Davis ran his hand through his hair, clearly aggravated. This was supposed to be a simple mission. The Reapers were supposed to group up with a squad that had infiltrated an Extremist compound and take them out. So far, however, the mission had been a crap shoot.

Davis regained his composure.

"Shit. Very well, then. We're going in." He said. He turned to Drag'lan. "Drag, get back to the others and tell them to expect a Hot Drop."

Drag'lan nodded enthusiastically; A Hot Drop was something he LIVED for. A Hot Drop meant to expect incoming fire immediately.

Drag'lan turned and walked back into the hold. As he did, everyone's eyes fell on him.

"Alright, guys. Davis told me to let you guys know to expect a Hot Drop. Let's do it." He said.

John Sorell stood up. Drag'lan laughed in his mind whenever he heard the last name. It was pure Irony that one of the people that helped raise him also shared his last name, even if they had no relation by blood.

"So, Drag, am I using a Flamer or a Smartgun this time around?" He asked.

"Assume you'll be using a Smartgun, Drake." Drag'lan said, using John's callsign.

John sat down and Drag'lan went to his seat, he reached behind him and pulled out his Pulse Rifle. Due to his strength, he had to have this one specially made of a tougher metal. It had a 200 round clip in the Bull-pup style and was built in such a way that it could hold 6 grenades instead of the standard four.

After a bit, he was satisfied after looking it over and put it away. He then saw Davis walk in.

"Alright, Reapers, listen up." He said, starting his standard rundown of the mission build. "We hit the ground in 15. The Heavies will then secure the immediate area. The rest of us will follow shortly after that. We'll spread out after that and try and find the squad we need to group up with. McKenzie, you'll be watching Drag'lan. If he gives you an order to take out a target, do it."

McKenzie gave Drag'lan a wicked grin as Davis said this. Drag'lan laughed and shook his head. He remembered the mission McKenzie and he had worked together. McKenzie joined the Reapers not long after that.

"Sir, we're picking up a signal from the surface. It's faint but it's there." The pilot said. "If you want, I can land in about 5 minutes in a safe distance from it."

"Take us there." Davis said. "Alright, people. New drop zone, but the same plan applies. Let's Do this and do it RIGHT! Because we are the Reapers, and the only rest we take is?"

"IN HELL!" The others yelled back, Drag'lan the loudest of the bunch, as usual.

"That's what I wanna hear!" Davis yelled back.

Once the ship and hit ground, the smartgunners descended to ramp in pairs. The others waited for the all clear to be given, once it did, they moved out, McKenzie setting up a sniper post on top of the ship.

As everyone spread out, Drag'lan couldn't shake the feeling that he was being watched. He contacted McKenzie.

"Hey, McKenzie. You there?" He asked,

"Yea, Drag. What do ya need?" McKenzie responded.

"You see anything around me?" Drag'lan asked.

"Nope. Why?" McKenzie said.

"Oh, just wondering." Drag'lan said.

"Okay. McKenzie out." McKenzie said.

Drag'lan kept walking. A few minutes later, his innate "Sixth Sense" as the others jokingly called it, went off.

"McKenzie, take another look around me. I know I'm being watched." He said.

"Ok, Drag. Give me a few." McKenzie said. A few seconds later, McKenzie came back.

"You got someone about 15 feet to your left, behind a rock. They're armed. Do you want me to take them out?" He said.

"Negative. We need to find out if they're hostile or not." Drag'lan replied, approaching the rock.

He pulled his rifle to the ready position and turned the corner. What met his eyes was the business end of a standard issue Pulse Rifle. The person behind them, as young as he was, looked as if he were willing to blow Drag'lan back to the stone age.

"Who are you?" They asked.

"Drag'lan Hellanille Sorell, of the Reapers." Drag'lan said. Might as well give them what they want.

The person lowered their weapon.

"Really, you're from the Reapers?" They said.

"Yes. We were sent here to check on the previous squad. Another squad came here before us and went MIA." Drag'lan said.

"Well, I'm James Korlett, Charlie Squad. We were the ones you were supposed to meet up with." The soldier said...

Drag'lan was brought back to reality as he heard Luar enter. He turned around in the chair.

"So, how much longer until we arrive at your planet?" He asked.

"Not much longer. Having said that, I must request something of you." Luar said.

"Depends on what you're gonna request." Drag'lan said.

"Don't attack anybody. My clan is a very defensive one. They may even be more defensive when it comes to me." Luar said.

"I'll see what I can do. But why are they so defensive of you? What are you, some kind of princess?" Drag'lan said, laughing a bit.

"Actually, I am. The former leader died and I am his only offspring." Luar said.

Drag'lan's smile faded.

"Again, I'll see what I can do. However, I can't guarantee that I won't defend myself when attacked if necessary." Drag'lan replied.

"That will be good enough." Luar said.

One hour later

Drag'lan stood next to the exit hatch, waiting for Luar to arrive. The pair had spoken earlier and had agreed that Drag'lan would stay as close to Luar as possible. Hopefully, if he did that, people would leave him alone. He doubted this, but Drag'lan was willing to see if it would work.

Luar walked up next to him.

"Well. What do you think?" She asked.

"Won't have an opinion until we land." Drag'lan said.

"Well, the first thing we need to do after we land is take you to my adoptive mother. She'll decide what we should do." Luar said.

"What is it with me and running into people with adoptive families?" Drag'lan asked.

"Maybe fate just intends that for you." Luar said.

"Sorry, but that was meant more towards myself. I have no idea why it came out like that." Drag'lan said.

"Oh, I don't take any offense from that, if that's what you mean. It's just that fate works in odd ways like that." Luar said.

Drag'lan then felt the ship hit the ground.

"Well, time for us to meet you adoptive mother, I guess." Drag'lan said as the hatch opened.

Luar nodded. She then descended the ramp, with Drag'lan following close behind.

He felt many pairs of eyes staring at him, and noticed that several had a hint of hatred in them. As he was walking, one gestured at him to another, who nodded, and walked up to him. They got in his way, causing him to stop.

"Who the Pauk are you?" They said.

Drag'lan kept his voice even as he said "Nobody important. Just passing through." He then stepped around them, and heard them move. He ducked a swing that was intended for his head and spun around. He then swept their feet out from underneath them and grabbed a hold of their neck as they were going down, slamming them to the ground, _hard_. He then took a knee next to them. It was hard to keep a neutral tone as he next spoke.

"Look, it's obvious that you don't want me here, and I don't even wanna be here. I just wanna get back to where I came from, and that will go MUCH easier if you just leave me alone. Next time, I won't hesitate in killing you." He then stood up and looked at the others who were staring at him.

"If you don't wanna end up like him, just leave me be." He said, turning and dashing to catch up to Luar.

As he caught up, she spoke without even looking at him.

"That might not have been the wisest thing to do." She said.

"Well, it hopefully got the point across that I am not one to be fucked with." He says, knowing full well that it probably wouldn't. It hadn't with Zer'lorg, so there wasn't much of a chance that Luar's clan would get the message after one showing.

"Well, either way, my adoptive mother will be sure to hear about this. You'll want to keep yourself respectful with her at all times." Luar said. "Otherwise, she'll, as the marines have said it 'lay your ass out'."

"I'll keep that in mind." Drag'lan said, keeping his tone level and neutral.

As they walked, Drag'lan still felt the eyes of the other Yautja on him. It was odd, but nothing he hadn't had to deal with; Back on Lai'Kairis, nearly everybody stared at him when he was walking by.

Drag'lan followed Luar straight to the main temple. As he approached, he couldn't help but think that he was being watched. He looked up and saw a blurred shape, which immediately disappeared. He shook his head, and looked back down.

As the pair walked into the temple, Drag'lan felt a sharp stab in his right arm and grabbed at it. He looked at it and saw that it was black where the creature had bitten him. He unsheathed his secondary knife and ran the blade along the wounds lightly, scraping them back open. He saw that his blood wasn't healing as it should have been. So, he just wrapped it up in a bandage. He'd take care of the wound later.

Drag'lan watched as Luar led him deeper and deeper into the temple. Then they came across a place that would best be called a command center. There were only 3 people standing in the place at the time, but Drag'lan could tell that it could hold more. 2 of the 3 were sitting at consoles, speaking to what would probably be different groups checking in. The third was just pacing back and forth.

Luar spoke to the one that was pacing, saying "Lou-dte'kale-Mar'cte, I've returned."

The pacing yautja, who Drag'lan had now noticed as a female, walked towards them. She stopped when she noticed him.

"Who is this?" She asked, more speaking to Luar than Drag'lan.

Drag'lan stepped forward and bowed in respect. Apparently, this female was of a very high rank.

"If I may answer for myself, I am just a solitary warrior. I was attacked by multiple creatures. After killing them, I succumbed to my wounds. I don't know how much time passed after that, but Luar here saved me and brought me here." He said, keeping a very polite tone.

Lou-dte'kale-Mar'cte looked at him with a hint of anger.

"I don't remember speaking to you." She said.

Drag'lan looked down.

"My apologies, then." He said, in a tone that hinted that he wasn't sincere.

Lou-dte'kale-Mar'cte then looked at Luar, either not noticing the tone or not caring.

"I trust that your hunt went well, however." She said.

"Yes." Luar said.

Drag'lan would have listened to this more, but he walked away, standing just at the doorway. He looked at his arm again and removed the bandage. He saw that his wounds still hadn't healed correctly. Starting to get annoyed, he walked back to the pair, wrapping the wound back up. Lou-dte'kale-Mar'cte looked at him as he approached.

"Luar-ke-Sain'ja has explained what happened to you. I must say that I'm surprised that you did that well." She said.

Drag'lan looked at her.

"If there is one thing that I am very good at, it's surviving. There is only a small handful of things that can bring me down." He said.

"And what would those be?" Lou-dte'kale-Mar'cte asked.

"Pretty much, only things that could down me in one shot. By the way, where is the medical area here? I have a bite that isn't healing right, and wanna get it checked out." Drag'lan said.

"Here. Let me look at it." Luar said, approaching him.

Although he lacked a solid trust for her, he showed her his arm with the bite. After a quick inspection, she looks him in the face.

"You're lucky that your body reacted with the bacteria the way it did. Normally, people would have bled out by now. Your wound just looks like it hasn't healed properly multiple times." She said.

"Like I didn't know that already. What does it need to heal properly?" Drag'lan said, sarcasm evident in his voice.

"Just an antibiotic injection in your shoulder. That should kill the bacteria and allow your body to heal correctly." Luar said, either not noticing or not caring about the sarcasm.

"Well, either way, after I get this thing checked out, I would like to be back where I came from." Drag'lan said.

"And where did you come from before Luar-Ke-Sain'ja found you?" Lou-dte'kale-Mar'cte asked.

"You ever hear of Lai'Kairis?" Drag'lan asked.

"Our clan has traded stuff there from time to time. But yes, I know of the place." Lou-dte'kale-Mar'cte said.

"That's where I came from. It's the clan I was inducted into." Drag said.

"That's a pity; You would have made an interesting addition to our clan, had others allowed it." Lou-dte'kale-Mar'cte said.

"So, anyway, where's the medical area? I still need to get this bite taken care of." Drag'lan said.

"I'll show you there myself. However, while you recover, you'll be remaining here in the temple." Lou-dte'kale-Mar'cte said. "We have more than enough room for you to rest in, as well as training areas."

Drag'lan's jaw dropped.

"And how long will it take for me to recover?" He asked.

"That all depends on you. Everybody heals at a different rate, and it's slowed when the Gnash Dragons become involved." Lou-dte'kale-Mar'cte said.

Drag'lan sighed.

"Well, might as well get this over with, then." He said. "Lead the way."

He followed Lou-dte'kale-Mar'cte out into a hallway, and into a room with many tables, some that were vacant, others with yautja on them. People that looked to be yautjan doctors looked after those on the tables. One approached Lou-dte'kale-Mar'cte, then saw Drag'lan and did a double take.

"Who is this?" The doctor said. "And why is it here?"

Lou-dte'kale-Mar'cte laughed.

"This is a stray Luar-ke-Sain'ja picked up while on one of her hunts. His name is Drag'lan, and he's here because he has a bite from a Gnash Dragon that isn't healing properly." She said.

"A bite from a Gnash Dragon, eh? How long ago was he bitten?" The doctor asked.

"By my memory, at least 32 hours." Drag'lan said in fluent yautjan, shocking the doctor.

"Dear Paya! You're lucky you didn't bleed out." The doctor said.

Drag'lan rolled his eyes.

"So I've been told. Just take a look at the wound." Drag'lan said, annoyed. He unrolled the bandage around his right upper arm and held it out for the doctor to inspect.

"Yes...oh yes. You're body has phenomenal healing powers. The fact that your blood managed to block the bacteria in their saliva so well, despite being exposed to the elements is proof of that." The doctor said.

"Alright. Was Luar right in saying that all I need is an injection to kill the bacteria off before I'll heal completely?" Drag'lan said, still annoyed.

"Yes, she was right. However, with the state of your wound, you'd not only need that injection, but also an injection for the other bacteria that grow in the forest. In total, you'd need 5 injections, and the recovery time would be about a week." The doctor said.

Drag'lan sighed.

"Very well then. Let's get all 5 injections done now." He said.

"Wait, you wanna get all the injections now?" The doctor asked, shocked.

"Yeah. The sooner I get the injections, the sooner I can leave. Simple as that." Drag'lan replied.

"But-"

"Just DO IT. I'll be fine. I've handled Zz'Gash venom, though I was out for 6 hours while my system beat it." Drag'lan said.

The doctor shook his head.

"Alright. Let me get the necessary compounds and everything ready." The doctor said, hurrying off.

Within minutes, Drag'lan had the 5 injections he needed to fully recover. After that, Lou-dte'kale-Mar'cte showed him to the room he would be staying in. Drag'lan slid off his armor and harness before sliding underneath the blanket, which happened to be the pelt of some soft furry animal. The warmth soothed his body, and he fell asleep almost immediately.


	20. Chapter 19

Chapter 19 - Recuperating

Drag'lan woke up, having not dreamed about anything through the night. He stretched a bit, noticing that his joints didn't pop or anything.

_Damn. I needed that rest more than I thought._ He thought.

He looked around at the room he was in. It was rather basic, which he had grown accustomed to. He always kept to the basics, as there was no telling when he'd be leaving when he was part of the Reapers. So, in a way, this place soothed his mind as well as his heart.

Either way, he felt that he needed to train with his blades. He snapped on his armor, putting his harness on before putting on his shoulder-plates. He then stepped out of the room and walked to one of the training rooms that Lou-dte'kale-Mar'cte had told him about.

As he entered, he noticed that there were a few that were exercising, some honing weapons skills, others sparring. A few glanced his way before going back to whatever it was they were doing. However, one seemed to recognize him and approached him.

"I still owe you for what you did to me yesterday." It said.

"Oh, you're the idiot that attacked me without provocation. That was your own damn fault." Drag'lan said cooly.

The yauta shook in anger after this, and Drag'lan could tell what was gonna happen before he did. As the yautja was beginning to swing, Drag'lan was already sweeping the guy's legs out from under him. As he went down, Drag'lan grabbed a hold of his chest mesh piece to keep him from slamming into the ground. Then, he lowered him to the ground and backed up.

As he got back up, Drag was already at least to the middle of the room, since the guy had blocked him at about 30ft and the the room as at least 80ft long. He got up and spun to look at Drag'lan.

"What the-?" It started, clearly shocked. "How did you-"

"When people get angry around me, I can read what they're gonna do before they act and act accordingly." Drag'lan said.

The predator then gave out a loud roar before starting to charge at him.

Drag'lan sighed.

_They never do learn._ He thought.

He deftly sidestepped the charge, knocking his feet out from underneath him again. This time however, Drag'lan grabbed a hold of the mesh that was covering his back and flung the yautja behind him. The yautja collided with a training item before crashing the the ground.

As Drag'lan approached the guy, he got back up and whipped around, trying to catch him in a hay-maker punch. He just ducked under it and punched the yautja in the chest, causing it to stumble back. Drag'lan then kicked the yautja with enough force to send it sprawling into the far wall. As the yautja tried to get away the wall to attack him again, he punched the guy's shoulder, hearing the joint dislocate as he impacted. He then backed up again.

The yautja looked at its useless limb and then looked at Drag'lan before trying to hay-maker him in the head again. This time, however, Drag'lan caught the blow midway and pushed back, holding the arm there while he swung his left sabaton and broke the yautja's leg. As the yautja fell, he let go of its arm and it collapsed to the floor. Some dashed to its side, but others procured weapons and started advancing on him.

He knew he might be able to take them all on, but he heard someone snap their fingers behind him. He turned around to see Lou-dte'kale-Mar'cte standing there.

"Somehow I saw this coming." She said, entering the room. Those that had been advancing on Drag'lan backed away. "What happened here?" She asked one of the bystanders.

"That guy just dropped Her'lag like it was nothing. I didn't hear any of their conversation before it, but that guy just dislocated Her'frag's shoulder and broke his leg." The yautja said.

Lou-dte'kale-Mar'cte looked at Drag'lan.

"What was your reasoning for doing that?" She asked him.

"He was about to attack me. He DID attack me. I was just defending myself." Drag'lan said simply. "He'll be fine. Just put his leg in a splint for his bones to heal and re-locate his shoulder."

"Very well. Get him to the infirmary." Lou-dte'kale-Mar'cte said. She then addressed Drag'lan again. "The next time this happens, it'll be me your defending yourself from."

"Point taken." Drag'lan said, bowing out of respect.

With that, Lou-dte'kale-Mar'cte walked out.

Drag'lan turned around and saw that the people in the room were shocked. Nobody had spoken like that to Lou-dte'kale-Mar'cte and remained alive, much less standing. He turned back around and left. There was no reason for him to actually train. He just wanted to get out and about more than anything.

Drag'lan walked back into the room he was using and sat on the ground cross-legged. It had been a while since he had last meditated, so it was easy for him to enter the mental state.

_Interesting tactic you used on that Pred._ His father said.

_I know. I didn't want to kill him, just discourage him from attacking me again._ Drag'lan replied.

_Heh. Didn't think you could not want someone dead._ His father said. _On another note, what do you think of this Luar-ke-Sain'ja? Kinda cute, right?_

_She might be kind of cute, dad._ Drag'lan said. _But I've already chosen my mate. You know this._

_Yes, I know._ His father said. _Just joking around with you._

_I never thought you had it in you to joke around._ Drag'lan said.

_Well, I can._ His father said, retreating from his mind once again.

Drag'lan stood up and turned around to find Luar there.

"How long have you been standing there?" He asked.

"Long enough to say that I didn't expect you to be the type to meditate." Luar said.

"Well, I meditate to release the mental stress I get over time." Drag'lan said. "So, what did ya want?"

"Oh, not much. Was just wondering if you were hungry." Luar said.

Drag'lan eyed her with suspicion.

"Well, I haven't eaten in over 60 some odd hours, so wouldn't hurt." Drag'lan said.

"Well, then follow me." Luar said, walking away.

Drag'lan followed her as she led him out of his room and through the temple. Eventually, they came to a room that reminded him of a buffet. Yautja were shuffling about, making their own trays of food and sitting either on their own or in small groups.

"This is one of the many dining halls. You're free to eat whatever you want, whenever you want." Luar said.

Drag'lan looked at her before asking "So I can just stroll in whenever I'm hungry, have a meal, and then leave?"

"Correct. Try to keep from doing what you did in the training room, however." Luar responded.

"Gotcha. Well, thanks for showing me this." He said.

"You're welcome." Luar said, leaving.

Drag'lan easily weaved his way through the crowds on his way to one of the counters. He grabbed a tray and started putting a small amount of everything on it as he passed; He had no idea what the meats were, but they couldn't be worse than the meat of one of the animals his family had cooked called a Grathler. That meat was so chewy and tasteless it was a surprise anything could eat it.

As he walked towards an empty table, he heard someone say "He grabbed WHAT? Oh, that's disgusting." But he didn't care. He sat down and started to chow. There was one cooked creature that he found rather tasty. It was a crab looking creature with a circular body. Although it's skin looked like it was a shell, it was actually rather soft, and there were no bones. As Drag'lan ate, he tasted fruit and nuts. The other dishes were decent, and Drag'lan couldn't stop himself from standing up and walking along another counter to get more food. He enjoyed the other dishes he grabbed, and after all was said and done, he was actually full. He wasn't surprised that he had eaten so much, as his metabolism was pretty damn fast, producing energy at high rates to keep his speed and reflexes up, as well as hunger.

After he had become satisfied, he left and went directly to a training room. This one was empty, so he pulled out Regoll and Toxin and stood at the center of the room. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply before starting to swing the blades. He didn't see where he was swinging them, only felt that he was moving every which way. After a while, he slowed down and stopped. He then opened his eyes to be looking at a yautja that was obviously young, maybe 8 at the most. They had a look of awe in their eyes.

"Aren't you supposed to be with your parents?" He asked them in yautjan.

The little yautja nodded.

"Then why aren't you with them? This is a dangerous place when I'm here." He said.

Just then, a female yautja came up. She picked up the child and looked at Drag'lan.

"I'm sorry about him. He's young and adventurous." She said, seeming on edge around him.

Drag'lan nodded his head.

"There's no need to apologize for children. I know how adventurous they can get. All that matters us that he didn't get hurt." He said, watching the mother leave.

He sheathed Toxin and Regoll, pulled out Physique and Ethereal, closed his eyes and started to swing them. He felt the wind that they generated, and it reminded him of the times he saw his father swinging these same blades.

Once he was finished, he opened his eyes to see Luar there.

"I was told that you were in here, training with your blades. Now that I see how you train with them, I can see why you've survived this long." She said.

Drag'lan nodded.

"Those movements I caught from my father when I saw him doing the same thing." He replied.

"Well, from what you've said, he's rather graceful in combat." Luar said.

"You don't really know what he's like. If he gets into combat and gets worked up, he becomes worse than I do when angered. What happened in the training room is just a touch of what I can do, and that was when I was annoyed." Drag'lan said.

"So, what can you do when enraged?" Luar asked.

"Let's just say that the yautja who's arm I dislocated would have had much worse. Once my body hits the survival reflex button, I will do anything to kill them. I killed one yautja through punches alone." Drag'lan said. "The problem with my rage bouts, though, is that I can't distinguish friend from foe."

"That's interesting. I've never heard of anything like that." Luar said.

"That would be because I am one of the few Regollen that remain. As I've said, I've only seen one other Regollen in my life." Drag'lan said. "And even then, I'm probably the last of my subspecies of Regollen, the Brute."

"And what were these 'Brutes' good at?" Luar asked.

"Oh, they were just basic berserkers. They're the ones that can tear through enemies as if they were paper. They can go toe-to-toe with almost every race imaginable in melee combat." Drag'lan said. "And I'm a descendant of the most powerful one to date."

"So you have the strength of both genes from your father's side and your mother's side." Luar said.

"Pretty much. My mother gave me the durability I so much enjoy having, as well as her open-mindedness. The way I was raised helped in that too." Drag'lan said.

"You are one interesting person." Luar said.

Drag'lan nodded.

"I get that a lot. I am also often told that I have a high endurance a lot." Drag'lan said. "The ones that have told me that I was interesting were females, oddly."

Luar laughed at this.

"I can understand why. You are one tough warrior, and a compassionate one at that." She said.

It was Drag'lan's turn to laugh at this.

"I'm not so sure about that last part, but yes, I'm tougher than most. Now, what did you want this time?" He said.

"I just wanted to talk." Luar said.

"What about?" Drag'lan asked.

"Just what you've experienced throughout your life." Luar replied.

"Oh. Well, where to begin...Might as well start from the beginning of my time with the marines..." Drag'lan said.

As he told his story, Drag couldn't help but feel that Luar was becoming something of a close friend. She was rather nice to him, which was something he hadn't seen in too many yautja, aside from maybe Fral and her family.

After he finished, Luar looked at him with something that could be best described as surprise.

"You survived that much? No wonder you're the warrior you are." Luar said.

"You don't know the half of it. That's the shit I've gotten into while on duty. Now, what happened while I was off-duty was often spoken of for a bit afterwords." Drag'lan said.

"Why was it spoken of for a while after the fact? What did you do that could cause that?" Luar asked.

"It's because I normally would go to a bar and some idiot would start something, so he'd get his sorry ass thrown out by me. I was normally the unofficial peace-keeper at whatever bar I went to." Drag'lan said with a chuckle.

Luar laughed a bit. "I can see that happening." She said.

"Well, in any case, now you know what happened to me while I was a marine until they left me for dead. You happy now?" Drag'lan said.

"Yes. That's all I needed to know." Luar said, turning to leave.

Drag'lan followed her.

"And what about you? You haven't really told me anything about yourself." He said.

"That's because there isn't much to tell." Luar said.

Drag'lan highly doubted this, but wasn't about to push the matter. Instead, he just headed back to his quarters to meditate.


	21. Chapter 20

Chapter 20 - Returning home

Drag'lan stood there in his quarters on the final day of his stay. For the past week, he had fallen into a slight pattern of getting up, meditating on things, having a slight meal and heading out to train. He hadn't been bothered at all by the other yautja since the first day of his recovery. Apparently, word of what he had done in the training room had spread. Luar had become rather intrigued in his fighting style, and as such, challenged him to a sparring match one day. Without hesitation, he had accepted.

"Well, so many have wanted to experience my fighting style that I would normally accept any challenge posed to me." He said

As they entered the ring, Drag'lan saw that Luar was wearing her combat armor. That would make things interesting, as he had left his pauldrons and gauntlets off. It would also mean that he couldn't knee her without causing serious injury which he wanted to avoid, seeing as she had grown to be his friend and Lou-dte'kale-Mar'cte would most likely kill him if he did. And knowing her, she could pull it off.

He watched as she ran, making notes of any weakness she might have, which she didn't appear to have. He'd have to experiment slightly. She was fast, he could tell that, but she didn't look like she could dish out that much pain in hand-to-hand, so if he could draw in close, he'd be able to bring her down, no problem.

At first, she tried some conventional tactics, such as trying to out-maneuver him, but he always kept blocking the strikes she threw at him. Then she did something that he didn't expect from her, considering that she seemed to be built for speed more than strength: She ran directly at him. The momentary shock at this passed quickly and he side-stepped her charge, but she spun at the last possible second and swept his legs out from underneath him. However, his training allowed him to return to his feet before she could do anything. He responded by returning the favor, sweeping _her _legs out from underneath _her_. As she hit the ground, he grabbed her arm and slipped an arm around her neck, putting her in a slight choke-hold, trying to pin her. She had other plans, however, as she flipped him over and tried to do a full reversal. Again, his training kicked in, and he managed to break her grip and slid away, getting up after he did so. He looked at her, surprised.

"Not too bad." He said. "However, that pales in comparison to what I've seen. You know this."

Luar nodded, and ran at him again. This time, however, he expected it, and waited for her to get within 10 feet before going into a combat roll to the right, reaching his arm out and grabbing on to one of her legs, bringing them both out from underneath her. He then threw himself on top of her, pinning her to the floor.

"Do you yield?" He asked. He always did that when he sparred, to make sure they were done.

Luar tried to get out from the pin, but she couldn't.

"Yes, I yield. Now get off me, please." She said.

Drag'lan got off of her and helped her up.

"You did something that hasn't happened in a long time; you shocked me." He said, laughing.

Luar laughed as well. "Well, that's one victory I've had." She said.

Drag'lan looked at her.

"You really aren't like the others I've met. Normally I have people disrepecting me at first, but you've been rather decent since the start." He said.

"I think it's because you're not as open as others are. That never helps." Luar said. "If you were more open, people might be inclined to make friends with you."

"If only you knew what I've had to deal with throughout my life. Then you'd understand." Drag'lan said. "Few have lived the life I have."

"You speak of all this, but I grew up without true parents." Luar said. "Can you say the same?"

Drag'lan looked at her, his eyes showing the pain he was feeling at remembering the horrors of the past. _His_ past.

"Not only can I say the same, but I can beat that. You might have never seen your true parents, but you didn't watch them get ripped limb from limb _right_ in front of you." Drag'lan said.

Luar just stared at him.

"I never knew that. Why didn't you bring that up earlier?" She said.

"That would be because that is one of the things I keep to myself, and myself only." Drag'lan said. "There are few that try to get to know me like this, and those that do are almost always trying to use me."

"Well, rest assured that your secret is safe with me." Luar said.

"Thank you. If people were to know what happened to me, I'd probably start killing without remorse." Drag'lan said. "This is one of the few things that I don't want anyone knowing."

Luar nodded. Drag'lan was lucky, because the match had taken place in an empty training room, so nobody heard this conversation.

At last, she finally understood what one of the primary sources of his strength were; the pain he felt.

Now Drag'lan had over-stayed his welcome. He could see it in the eyes of those that he passed. They disapproved of Lou-dte'kale-Mar'cte's choice in letting him stay, but seemed to be too scared to say it. He didn't blame them; He'd be nervous to say anything around him, too.

As he walked out of his room, he nearly ran into someone. They looked at him.

"Watch where you're-" They started to say, until they realized it was Drag'lan. They shut up and kept moving.

He went to the dining hall and had a slight meal. He then walked to one of the balconies. He enjoyed being able to see the environment in its beauty. He became lost in it so much that he remembered one of the missions he had gone through.

_Drag'lan was standing in the APC Davis had gotten for this op. He looked out of the port-hole next to his seat, and saw the jungle they were heading through. It had a rough beauty to it, and Drag'lan nearly became lost in it when Davis walked up._

_"Hey, Drag." He said._

_Drag'lan turned around._

_"Hey, Davis. What's goin on this time around for the mission?" He asked._

_"Not much. We're going in to quell an uprising this time around." Davis said._

_"That seems like the norm now." Drag'lan said. "I wanna hit another hive."_

_"I know you do, but we haven't gotten reports of any for a while. Something's fishy, but we're not payed to ask questions." Davis said._

_Drag'lan nodded._

_"Yeah, but I really hope that these rebels give me more trouble than the last ones did." He said._

_He was reffering to the last mission, where the rebels were just farmers with shotguns._

_Davis nodded._

_"I hear that. That last group of rebels just rolled over the moment we strolled in." He said._

_Drag'lan sat down in his seat. He then closed his eyes and dozed off._

_Later..._

_Drag'lan was shaken awake by John._

_"What's goin' on, Drake?" He asked._

_"Davis told me to wake your ass up, Drag. We're there, and I think you might like what you see." John said._

_Drag'lan got up and looked out the port-hole again and saw the black material of a Xeno hive._

_"Oh, HELL YEAH!" He said. "This is EXACTLY what I wanted."_

_John laughed._

_"I figured as much." He said. "Well, Davis and the others are waiting outside for you. Let's go."_

_Drag'lan stood up and stetched before grabbing his rifle and followed John out of the APC._

Luar walked up to Drag'lan and tapped him on the shoulder, bringing him back to reality. He turned around.

"You ready to head back to your home?" She asked.

Drag'lan nodded.

"As ready as ever. However, before I do, I would like to give you this." He said.

With that, Drag'lan picked up a small slab of stone that was on the ground, unsheathed his combat knife and engraved yautjan symbols into it. He handed it to Luar.

"What are these?" She asked him, looking at the stone.

"They're my communicator's numbers. If you wanna talk or need help with something, don't hesitate to contact me." Drag'lan said. "It's because you're my friend, and friends look out for each other."

Luar nodded.

"Oh, okay." She said, unsure of what to say at first. "Well, let's go then."

Drag'lan nodded.

"Yes, let's." He said.

With that, they walked towards Luar's ship. On the way, Drag was stopped by the yautja who had his arm dislocated and leg broken by him. He merely limped into Drag'lan's path, as the leg hadn't healed completely.

The yauta looked at him with what would best be described as impressed.

"I must thank you for doing what you did. It helped me find how much of an ass I've been. I'm sorry for how I acted." he said.

Drag'lan shook his head.

"Well, your welcome, and all is forgiven. But the next time you do something like that, I really won't hesitate in killing you." He said, walking around him and following Luar.

Luar looked at him with surprise.

"I didn't take you for the type to forgive." She said.

"Well, my mom told me over and over to always live in the present. 'let the past be the past' she always said. I've learned that nothing gets done if one always lives in the past. You just make the same mistakes over and over again." Drag'lan said.

Luar nodded.

"That is a deep thought." She said.

"Well, that was my mother for you. She was one that might not speak often, but when she did, she held strength with every word." Drag'lan said.

Luar laughed.

"I've never known someone like that." She said. "Either way, let's get you home."

Drag'lan nodded.

"The sooner the better." He said. "I've been away from it for far too long."

_Yeah, and __her__._ A voice in his mind told him. _Can't forget about __her__, now can we?_

Drag'lan placed a serious clamp on that thought. There was no need in bringing up his love for Fral; Luar didn't need to know about that.

Luar and Drag'lan then got onto her ship, and Luar set the destination to Lai'Kairis. Drag'lan immediately started leaning against a wall and waited. Eventually, he got bored, and sat down. He removed his mask and looked at it. It looked decent plain, but he was getting the strangest feeling that he had to engrave something in it. He engraved runes that meant "Death to the dishonorable" across the forehead. Where his mouth, he put the rune meaning "Friendship", as well as a rune meaning "Caring" to the right of it, and "Trustworthy" to the left of it. The runes next to the one where his mouth would be were the runes he had associated with Fral and Ter. He didn't know Greth'ler well enough yet to get a decent read on him, but knew that it would have something to do with combat from what he knew.

After that was done, he closed his eyes and fell asleep...

2 days later

Drag'lan looked at Lai'Kairis with longing; He was _finally_ home.

Luar looked at him.

"I take it that you miss whoever is waiting for you there?" She asked.

Drag'lan didn't look at her when he spoke.

"Yeah. I was taken in by a yautjan family a while back before I was inducted into the clan. Other than you, they're the nicest any yautja has been to me so far in my life." He said.

Luar nodded.

"That is understandable. You look like one that shows love when loved." She said.

Drag'lan looked at her.

"You have no idea." He said.

Then, as they were approaching, a ship drew up next to Luar's, hailing her.

"Let me handle this." He said.

He accepted the hail and spoke to the ship's pilot, explaining that his ship had become lost and wanted to land. The pilot wasn't too convinced, but he gave in when Drag'lan said who he was. The pilot told him to land at a bay, and left, cloaking as he did so.

Drag'lan turned to Luar.

"See what I mean?" He asked.

Luar nodded.

"Yes." She said. "But how can you do that?"

Drag'lan laughed.

"You remember how I had said that this clan inducted me?" He asked

Luar nodded, but remained silent.

"Well, the yautja I told you that I killed was the one that was challenging me to test if I could join the clan." Drag'lan said. "I couldn't control myself at the time, as I was in one of my rages. It scared most of them to the point that they avoid angering me at any cost."

Luar looked at him.

"And they just let you join after that?" Luar asked. "I would've thought that you'd be dead at that point."

Drag'lan laughed.

"Don't get me wrong. I got fucked up, but I still managed to wipe his sorry ass out." He said. "Plus, apparently, the elders looked into his past and found that he was a bad-blood."

"That would explain it." Luar said. "Bad-bloods are hated almost everywhere."

Drag'lan nodded.

"And for good reason. On my first hunt, which was about a month ago, my hunting group got attacked by marines, and when we got set up to be rescued, we were attacked by bad-bloods." Drag'lan said. "And they all had both yautjan and human skulls on them."

Luar looked at him.

"I don't think I've ever heard of bad-bloods like that before." She said.

"Well, I just hope that they're the last ones I see." Drag'lan said.

Luar nodded.

"I would, too." She said. "Oh, and we're at the bay."

"So we are, so we are." He said, noticing that she was right. "Well, I thank you for what you've done for me."

Luar nodded.

"You're welcome." She said. "I need to grab some things while I'm here, so I might just stay for a bit."

"Very well." Drag'lan said. He didn't care personally.

He descended the ramp first, and was met with a rather odd sight; He saw Fral standing there.

He looked at Fral.

"What are you doing here, Fral?" He asked her, surprised.

"I came to pick you up. The ship that intercepted you informed me that you were here." She said.

"There was no need. I was gonna find you." Drag'lan said,

Fral looked at him with a scrutinizing gaze.

"Why do you seem so nervous right now, Drag?" She asked.

"I have no idea what you're talking abou-" He started to say, but just then Luar started walking down the ramp of her ship, and Fral caught the movement. She just looked at Luar for a bit. Drag'lan noticed this and tried to avert the situation.

"Fral, it's not what you think." He said.

Fral just looked at him.

"Are you sure?" She asked."Why is that female with you then?" She gestured towards Luar.

Drag'lan glanced over his shoulder, and that distraction was all the time that Fral needed to get around him. She started walking towards Luar, and Drag could see that there would be violence if he didn't act, because from the look Fral had, she was rather suspicious of whatever relationship there might be between Luar and Drag'lan. Moving quickly, he got in between Fral and Luar, but Fral was already swinging her fist, hoping to catch Luar. However, she caught him in the head instead. It was a full-force blow, and Drag'lan felt the pain, but remained standing. He held his hands up in a manner that meant "Stop this"

"Look, Fral. I don't know what you're thinking, but it's not like that. Luar-ke-Sain'ja here _saved _my life." He said. "So, I'd really appreciate it if you didn't attack her."

Fral looked at him with surprise.

"_She_ saved _you_?" She asked. "What could happen to you that would require you to be saved?"

Drag'lan looked back at her, his eyes showing determination.

"It's a long story, but the short version is that I got attacked by multiple creatures. Granted, I killed them all, but something in their saliva didn't allow my body to heal correctly, and I blacked out for a while. Luar then picked me up, took me to her clan world, and after a while I healed, and now here I am." Drag'lan said, lowering his arms. He didn't think that Fral would attack Luar again, who was just standing there.

Fral looked at him with suspicion.

"Drag, I'm still doubting this highly." She said. "But I'm guessing you'll tell me the full story soon."

Drag'lan nodded.

"That I will, Fral." He said. "Besides, you already know what I think about you."

This time Fral nodded, saying "Yes, I do.".

With that being said, Drag'lan turned to face Luar.

"Luar, this is Fral'drylx. She's part of the family that took me in here." He said. "Don't let this event shake you at all. She's actually quite decent when you get to know her, just like you are."

Luar looked at him with understanding.

"I see. Well, I'll be leaving." She said.

"Okay. See ya, Luar." Drag'lan said, nodding and turning to Fral.

"Let's go home." He said.

"Yes. Let's." Fral said.

The pair headed to their home. On the way, Drag'lan told the story of what happened.

Fral looked at him when he had finished.

"You're sticking with me then." She said. "I don't want to lose you, like I've lost others."

Drag'lan shook his head.

"You expect that to happen?" He asked. "In the marines, I had a streak of separating from my squad. I just work better on my own. Plus, how do you expect to keep me with you at all times?"

Fral laughed.

"I'll figure something out, Drag." She said.

It was Drag'lan's turn to laugh this time.

"I bet you will." He said. "However, you'll end up failing, because I am not one to be held back by anything."

Fral looked at him.

"True." She said. "But that won't stop me from trying."

Drag'lan laughed at this.

"Yeah, I kinda figured that." He said. "I know you well enough to know that. Either way, what's gonna happen now?"

Fral shrugged.

"I don't know, but let's just say that we need to speak to my parents about heading to get your ship before doing anything." She said.

Drag'lan nodded.

"Luckily, I always have some form of tracking device set up in my vehicles. Makes sure that they can't get stolen." He said.

With that, Fral lead Drag'lan to her parents home. They needed to talk.


	22. Chapter 21

Chapter 21 - Old Acquaintances

Drag'lan stood in the cockpit next to Fral and her dad, his arms crossed, thinking. Fral noticed this and touched his arm. He turned to face her.

"What's wrong, Drag?" She asked him. "You seem distant."

"Oh, it's nothing." He told her. "I'm just thinking about different things."

Fral started to respond, but a console made a sudden sound. Fral's dad looked over the consoles in shock.

"What the-?" He said. "We're picking up a signal from a nearby planet."

Drag'lan was immediately on alert.

"What does it say?" He asked.

"It's just a basic 'SOS' signal that keeps looping." Fral's dad responded.

"Well then, what are we waiting for?" Drag'lan asked. "Let's go check it out."

He turned and walked out.

"But-" Fral's dad started to say, but Drag'lan had already gotten out of earshot. Fral shook her head.

"Just let him go. Once he sets his mind to something, there's no swaying it." She said.

Her dad sighed.

"Well, let's get down there then." He said, getting up and leaving, Fral following closely behind..

Drag'lan walked into the small armory and looked for his blades. He still had his harness, but Fral's dad had explicitly forbidden him to carry his blades with him throughout the ship. He spotted them next to the trophy wall. His wall only had 2 skulls on his, and they were from the two Predaliens he had slain with his party on his first hunt. Without hesitation, he grabbed and sheathed them. He then left, not even glancing back.

Fral and her dad both walked into the armory. Drag'lan had already been in here, as his blades were gone. They both grabbed their gear and headed for the living quarters to let the others know; Fral's mom and brothers were on the ship as well. They found Drag'lan there, looking over his blades, with Ter'thig and Greth'ler talking to him. He nodded here and there to let them know he was listening.

Fral's dad cleared his throat and the others looked at him.

"Alright. We just received an SOS signal, and we're gonna check it out. Drag's gonna be up front." He said.

Drag'lan glanced up at the mention of his name and nodded, then returned to looking over his blades. He then looked up, satisfied with the looks of them.

"What's the ETA?" Drag'lan said without thinking; He had heard the last part from Davis often when he had been in the Reapers.

Fral's dad eyed him with confusion.

Drag'lan shook his head.

"ETA stands for Estimated Time of Arrival. Another military term. In other words, how long are we gonna stay on the ship?" He said.

"Maybe an hour at the most, as the signal is very close." Fral's dad replied. "Either way, you guys might wanna grab your equipment."

Drag'lan stood up and grabbed his mask. He was already in his armor, so he sheathed his blades.

"Well, I'm ready. I'll keep an eye out in the cockpit." He said, walking out.

When he entered the cockpit, he sat down. He ran his hand through his hair. It felt weird going with Fral's family as a whole. He wasn't a true team player, as he was normally let loose to wreak havoc on his own.

He heard the cockpit door slide open and saw Fral and her dad walk in.

"So. What's goin' on?" Fral's dad asked.

"Nothing special. Was just watching the stars pass by. We should be there in about 20 minutes." Drag'lan said.

"How do you know that?" Fral's dad asked.

"Let's just call it a hunch, and my hunches normally turn out correct." Drag'lan replied.

Sure enough, 20 minutes later, they were looking at a planet. As they break through the atmosphere, they see that it was mostly forest. Drag'lan looked at it. Then, an alarm blared.

"Move. This is my specialty." Fral's dad said.

"What's up?" Fral asked as Drag'lan vacated the seat to make room for her dad.

"We got a reading on our scanners. Bringing up a picture." Fral's dad said.

As the picture formed, Drag'lan saw a ship of human design.

"What the heck are humans doing here?" He asked.

Fral's dad shook his head.

"I don't know, but before we enter their scanners, we're cloaking." He said, activating the cloaking field.

Fral's dad then warmed up the weapons.

"What are you doing?" Drag'lan asked.

"I plan on downing that ship so that we can search for the newbloods in relative peace." Fral's dad replied, getting the guns ready to fire.

Drag'lan already knew that whatever he did, Fral's dad was going to fire, so he walked out. He wasn't about to watch a ship get blasted.

He heard the guns fire and felt the ship descend a few minutes later.

He felt a hand on his arm and turned to see Fral's dad there.

"I'm sorry about attacking those humans. I just didn't want to take the chance of them being enemies." He said.

Drag'lan shook his head this time.

"It doesn't matter. You were going to either way. Let's just find the newbloods." He said.

The others gathered near him at the hatch as they landed. They all had different sets of gear. Greth'ler preferred a large axe, and it fit his build. Ter'thig looked like he favored a pair of the weapon Drag'lan had heard called a Gladius. His armor seemed to cover a bit more than the standard yautja armor he had seen. Fral's mother on the other hand, looked like more of an assassin than he had seen, favoring a pair of long daggers and what looked like a small spear crossbow. She had little in the way of armor, apparently favoring light armor to the standard stuff that most used. Fral was in her standard armor with her double headed halberd. Her dad was the person that surprised him. He had chosen something of a spiked Bo staff. With his build, Drag'lan had expected something like Fral's. He also favored light armor.

Drag'lan heard the hatch open and leaped out of the ship. He heard the others leap down after him. They all activated their cloaking systems, but Drag'lan just warmed up his plasma caster. Since it had saved his ass on the last hunt he had been on, he wasn't about to not rely on it. The group spread out, to cover more ground. After about 8 hours however, they stopped for the night, as it was getting darker by the minute. They all set up camp in the high branches of the trees. When they started talking about watch, Drag'lan said that it wouldn't matter, not with their altitude. The entire party then went to sleep.

The next day, Drag'lan had been searching for a lead to the location of the newbloods for a few minutes when he came across a peculiar set of tracks. He contacted the rest and the group and took a knee, studying the tracks. They didn't look like anything he had seen, but when he stepped down next to the peculiar track, they looked very similar. That proved it; there was a human settlement nearby. Drag'lan stood up.

"Alright. We need to follow the tracks." He said. "Most likely, there's a human settlement nearby that the newbloods would've used for shelter."

Nobody argued with him, so he lead the way, following the tracks. As he had thought, they led to a human compound. The group cloaked again, but Drag'lan just walked through the front gate. As he did, he noted the lack of people around. Once he looked around, he caught the same golden yellow "WY" painted on the side of a building.

"Go fucking figure. I should've known that they'd be here." He said to himself.

"Drag, I think you might wanna come here. This is interesting." He heard Fral say.

Once he found her position, he saw a guard with his neck snapped.

"That wasn't done by a newblood. This was done by another human." She said.

Drag'lan just looked at her with a "No shit, sherlock" look.

"No shit." He said. "If one of the newbloods had killed this human, there wouldn't be a head."

Just then, he heard a guttural sound that must have come from a Yautja. It sounded like it was calling for help.

"THIS WAY!" He yelled, sprinting down the hall. He stopped at the corner and turned it, the rest of them right behind him. He froze from what he saw.

He saw a human standing over a Yautja, pointing a pistol at it. He saw the human look up and say "I guess I was wrong when I told him no one would save him. So who wants a piece of me first?" After picking up a knife and holstering his pistol.

"I'll handle-" Drag'lan had started to say, before Fral stepped forward, extending her dual-halberd. The human stood his ground as she started charging at him. She made a wild swing at his shoulder, but he deftly dodged it. The next thing he knew, Drag'lan saw Fral hit the floor. However, Drag'lan had been training with her as much as her brothers in his way of combat, if not longer, and she quickly recovered. She then made a swing at the humans neck that he was just _barely_ able to dodge. He then managed to draw first blood, cutting her arm. It didn't seem to bother her, because she managed to send the human flying down the hall. As she charged the human again, she released an onslaught of swings at him that Drag'lan could barely track, meaning that the human was clearly lucky that none of the blows connected, as they would have most likely be one-shot kills, no matter where he was hit. Then the human did the unusual: He managed to stab Fral in the hand, of all places. That forced her to drop her halberd, however.

He then elbowed her in the face so hard that the ring that was caused by the connection was nearly deafening, even through the filters of his mask, and also knocked hers clean off. That move also floored her. The human then pulled out his pistol and pointed it directly at Fral's head, saying "An old friend of mine showed mercy to your kind, a mercy I lack." The human then prepared to fire.

Now, the human made two mistakes in this action: First, he was fighting dishonorably. Second, he was threatening Drag'lan's girlfriend. Both of those were sure-fire ways of pissing him off. It was a wonder that he managed to keep control. However, his moves were so blurred that even HE couldn't track them. In a flash, he had his secondary knife out and hurled it at the human, hitting him squarely in the shoulder, making him drop the gun.

The human looked at Drag'lan and pulled the knife out of his shoulder saying "Well if it isn't my old enemy, come get some then."

That provoked Drag'lan even further. He went charging at the human even faster than he thought possible and punched him in the chest, which stung, but sent the human skidding back a few feet. The human laughed briefly before saying "Is that it? Compared to that damn table, that was nothing." Drag'lan then caught the human jumping off the wall and kicking him square in the face. His mask held, but he was thrown on his back onto the floor. His training kicked in as he returned to his feet in an instant and pretty much straight punched the human with as much force as he could muster. The force sent the human sprawling across the room. As the human was recovering, Drag'lan was already moving towards him. Once the human got up, he was being held by his throat against the wall. Drag'lan quietly extended his wrist blades, as he was holding the human with his left hand. He was getting prepared to strike when the human said something that caught him completely off guard.

"Looks like you win, now kill me and get it over with. Maybe I'll see my good friend Sorell in hell when I get there." He had said.

That name, Sorell, held special meaning to Drag'lan. It was one of those things that could instantly kill a Brute rage, as rare as it was. Drag'lan then looked at the human in shock. He pulled off his mask, showing the human his face.

"How do you know John Sorell?" Drag'lan asked, his vision returning to normal.

"He saved my ass more than once when I was still with the USCMC." The human said.

Drag'lan, now approaching his calm state, set the human down. The human took that as a cue for introductions.

"My name's Adrian Fox." He said.

"I am Drag'lan Hellanille Sorell." Drag'lan replied.

"Now the odds of meeting one of his relatives is purely astronomical." Fox said in surprise.

"I'm not his relative by blood, but he helped raise me." Drag'lan said, trying not to sound annoyed.

Fox then grabbed his gun and said "Well if we are done here my friends are being held in prison cells on this floor and I'd like to go break them out." before leaving.

Drag'lan turned to the others. They all looked at him in surprise. Fral walked up to him and handed him his mask. He put it back on.

"What just happened to you? You just stopped from killing him." He said.

"It's nothing. Just let it go as well as him. We need to get out of here with this newblood." Drag'lan said.

"But-"

Fral cut her dad off, saying "Remember what I said in the ship." Before picking up the newblood and noting his shallow and labored breathe.

"He's taken a beating. Most likely from that 'Fox' person." She said.

Drag'lan nodded. He started walking back the way they came, but he heard the unmistakable scream of Xenos.

"Groke! What is it with Weyland-Yutani and experimenting with Xenos?" Drag'lan said annoyed.

He turned to Fral and saw an open door next to her.

"Put the newblood in the room. We don't want him found by the Xenos." He said.

Fral nodded and walked into the room. Drag'lan looked down the hall and saw a small swarm of Xenos, maybe numbering 40-50 at the most, barreling down at the group. He revved up his plasma caster and fired into the crowd, killing maybe 3 in the blast. Then multiple other plasma rounds flew past him and into the Xenos, killing another 5-7 of them. Drag'lan then pulled out Ethereal and Physique, as they would run the least risk of harming Fral and the others. He went charging headfirst into the Xeno swarm. He heard Greth'ler doing the same, as did Ter'thig. The trio fought back to back to back, tearing through Xenos one after another. However, Drag'lan noticed that there were more coming.

_Dear chrystoll!_ He thought. _How many of the fuckers are there in here?_

He saw Fral coming into the fight and saw a Xeno sneaking up from behind her. As he was about to yell something, a new voice yelled "Behind you!" before the Xeno and whoever tackled it go flying out the window. Not long after the Xeno went through the window, he heard the sound of gunfire coming at him and instinctively ducked. However, the gunfire was directly aimed at the Xenos. As he watched, a group of humans followed by a Yautja came around the corner. They were focusing more on the incoming Xenos more than the ones near him and his group. He then saw Fox coming through the window the Xeno went crashing through.

The Xeno horde then started retreating mysteriously. What few stragglers that remained were dealt with by both groups. Fox approached him. He then took that chance to show some gratitude.

"Thanks for the help." Drag'lan said.

Fox looked at him with what could best be amusement.

"No problem, but do you think you could give us a ride to the nearest city?" He asked.

"Not likely, but would the nearest human planet work too?" Drag'lan replied.

"I could go for that." Fox said.

With that, both groups started to make their way toward the exit. As one of them walked past him, Drag'lan blocked his path. He gave them and the group some space so that only he and the other guy could hear each other.

"Look, I can tell you're not human. Now, I don't care what the hell you are, but if you even start acting funny, I won't hesitate in killing your sorry ass. You got that?" He said.

The person looked at Drag'lan and was clam when he said "Yes, sir."

Drag'lan then resumed to walking. That much was now done.

As they got onto Drag'lan's ship, he stopped Fox. He then took Fox aside to a place where the others wouldn't hear the conversation.

"You knew John Sorell well, I take it?" He asked Fox.

"Well enough to know that he could handle his own against Preds." Fox replied.

"I mean that you'd consider him as a friend, right?" Drag'lan said.

"Yea, you could call him my friend." Fox said.

"Well, then it would do you well to know that he's dead." Drag'lan said.

"I somewhat saw that coming. I had heard rumor that the Reapers were getting re-made when I was in the cell at the compound you found me in that first time." Fox said.

"Yes. He died along with all of the other Reapers. We had the bad luck of getting attacked by 6 Bad-bloods. He was bled as though he were a stuck pig." Drag'lan said, with a slight sorrowful tone in his voice.

"And you stood around doing nothing?" Fox asked.

"What COULD I do? There was no way in hell that he would survive." Drag'lan said, quickly becoming annoyed.

"Well, you could at least have attacked his attacker." Fox said.

"And you think I didn't?" Drag'lan said, continuing to become annoyed.

"Well, you never said if you did." Fox said.

"You know what? I'm done. I was just letting you know that your friend, and part of my adoptive family died, and this is what happens." Drag'lan said, walking off.

That was what kept him from going off on the guy. It was a wonder that Fox had survived with the attitude he had.

He wouldn't have made it a day in the old-school Reapers. Davis would've seen to that. Drag'lan thought.

He walked into the cockpit and saw that Fral's dad was in there alone.

"We need to drop them off on the next planet over. I'm about to kill their leader." He told Fral's dad.

"Oh great. What did he do to piss you off?" Fral's dad replied.

"It's nothing to severe. Just something that really ticks me off." Drag'lan said.

Fral's dad started to reply, but Drag'lan heard a commotion outside. He turned and ran out. He took in the scene in an instant; Ter'thig with his blades out, in a defensive stance, and Fox out, with both his knife and his pistol out. Both held a bloodlust look in their eyes. He stepped in between them.

"Alright. The next blow is hitting me. Anybody got the balls to go through with it?" He said, his voice level, but with hints of anger. He glanced back and forth between them. Both were somewhat surprised he had stepped in the way he did.

"Good. Now, both of you walk away, before I lose my temper." He said.

He saw Fox look at Ter'thig with a "This is far from over" look in his eye before leaving. Ter'thig had the same look in his eye.

Drag'lan turned around and saw Fral there. Her hand and arm had been bandaged up.

"What happened?" She asked.

"I have no idea, but I think I just stopped blood from getting spilled just now. I have a feeling that this might happen again. The sooner they're off, the better." Drag'lan said.

"Alright." Fral said, turning away.

Drag'lan walked into the cockpit.

"How far until we hit the nearest planet that the humans have inhabited?" He asked.

"About 10 minutes." Fral's dad said.

Drag'lan walked out and walked over to Fox.

"You might wanna get your little band of people ready to get dropped off. We'll be entering atmosphere in 10 minutes. After that, it'll be maybe another 10 minutes before we get near a city. In that time, you'll keep your hands to yourself, or I'll put your ass down." Drag'lan said.

Fox didn't say anything, just nodded. Drag'lan walked away, not caring how Fox took the way he had said what he said. He was just hoping that Ter'thig wouldn't do anything rash.


	23. Chapter 22

**Note: This is a crossover with Jago-Dakari. I had spoken to said writer in advance of creation of this chapter, and had permission to write the chapter. There was also a collab between me and Jago.**

Chapter 22 - Encounter with the Slayer

Drag'lan stood on the branch of the tree he had climbed with relative ease. He had gotten used to doing this when he needed to rest. It also helped him when it came to getting the lay of the land. The area around him was a very magnificent sight, indeed; It was that of a large forest of pine trees.

_Wow._ He thought. _I never thought I'd be on this type of planet in a long time._

He then looked down at his bracer which had formerly held his wrist-blades. Now in their place was a large retractable blade. That replacement caused the bracer to become more bulky, but Drag'lan wasn't complaining; He didn't notice the added weight the blade added. He couldn't believe that he had managed to talk the forge master into allowing this as well.

The forge master, Val'hariz, eyed Drag'lan with an annoyed look.

"I'm drawing the line at this design." He said. "Making your helmet wasn't that bad, but making your armor the way it is was one thing, and this…" He gestured towards the design. "This is going much too far."

Drag'lan stared Val'hariz in the eyes with an indifferent gaze.

"Does it really matter?" He asked. "I've already negated the use of cloaking, so what harm could a blade in place of my wrist-blades do?"

"It could really interfere with your balance in combat." The forge master said. "Besides, I doubt you'd even use it when you have your blades."

Drag'lan retained his stare, only his gaze hardened.

"Look." He said. "It's either you modify it, or I modify it. Either way, my bracer is getting the blade. I need the blade, because I have become fully disarmed before. Granted, It doesn't happen often, but it still happens."

The forge master looked at him with a suspicious glance.

"Fine. I'll make the modifications." He said. "However, this is the LAST time this is going to happen."

Drag'lan nodded.

"Fair enough." He said.

Now Drag'lan was looking over it. He extended the blade and looked at it. He had already engraved Regollen runes into it, and that was about a week ago. He had also tested it on targets after sharpening it, and the blade cut through them as if they weren't there. Along the blade, the runes read "Those that fight with dishonor shall feel my sting". He had named it Honorbringer due to this.

Drag'lan retracted Honorbringer and dropped to the floor of the forest. It was time for him to start the hunt. After he hit the ground, he started walking forward, activating his plasma caster as he did. He heard the growls of predators around him, but he kept moving.

A huge beast that he had never encountered, but had heard of when he was talking with Greth, which they had called a Baloth, came crashing into view. It stood at least 20 feet tall and was charging at a peculiar figure. If he didn't know better, he would've thought that it was a small yautja. However, this one was wielding a pair of hand-axes and had a double-headed axe on his back. Drag'lan wasn't about to stand around, seeing if this yautja would win or not, so he charged at the baloth.

As he closed the distance, he leaped at the baloth. He extended Honorbringer as he did so and unsheathed Physique as he flew through the air. He hit its leg and stabbed his blades in, sticking there.

_Dear Chrystoll_. He thought. _It's no wonder why Greth had said to avoid these things. This thing's hide is TOUGH_

The baloth kept charging, and Drag'lan could feel his shoulder joints screaming in protest with every thundering step it took towards its target, but he gritted his teeth against it and started climbing up the baloth's legs. He noted that his blades only went in about 2-3 inches deep. Not enough to deal any damage, but enough for him to climb.

As he climbed, he noticed that the yautja was dodging the baloth's attacks seamlessly, despite its size and Drag'lan sticking to its leg. Apparently, it was so intent on the other yautja that it didn't notice him.

_Well, I might as well capitalize on this opportunity. _He thought, continuing to climb.

The moment he hit the top, the baloth finally noticed that he was there and started swinging its body, trying to make him fall off. In response, Drag'lan brought Physique down into it's back, this time sinking it down about 5 inches. It allowed for him to keep on the thing's back. He then proceeded to plunge his arm-blade into its back, sinking it in about 7 inches. This action really attracted its attention, as it started trying to claw at him, trying to remove him. He had chosen a good location, however, as its claws never came close to hitting him.

Drag'lan then heard, even over the baloth's roars, as it was doing this throughout the time that everything was happening, the unmistakable firing of plasma casters, only they were too rapid. It confused him.

_What the-?_ He thought. _What could that yautja be equipped with that can fire THAT rapidly?_

That didn't matter, as he felt the baloth's body start pitching forward.

_Groegno!_ He thought, trying to get his blades free.

He managed it just as the body started to hit the ground, leaping off of the carcass to the ground, taking a knee to disperse the shock. He looked up to see the yautja there, with their plasma-casters glowing red from the constant firing.

"Not that bad of shooting." He said to them, standing up. "However, where the hell did you run into that thing?"

The yautja just gazed at him from behind its mask.

"Your voice. It sounds familiar." The yautja said. "Let me see your face."

"Very well." Drag'lan said, pressing a button on his computer-bracer, which popped the seal of his helmet. The faceplate slide sideways, revealing his face.

The other yautja kept gazing at him and cocked it's head.

"I should've figured you'd be the one reckless enough to do that. You're that one that blind-sided me on the head back on Lai'kairis." It said.

Drag'lan did a mental double-take.

"So you're Alaric?" He asked.

The yautja nodded its head and removed its mask. Beneath it, Drag'lan saw the same scarlet eyes that he had seen after their first encounter, with the addition of blue warpaint under his eyes like seeping flames. There was no mistaking it; This was Alaric.

"I hope you don't hate me after I blind-sided you back on Lai'Kairis." Drag'lan said, "I lost my USCMC family to a group of bad-bloods that were hunting you. That, in turn, caused me to attack you without cause or reason."

Alaric just looked at him with a neutral gaze.

"I suppose you had just cause for doing that. However, normally, I would have done worse to you for what you did. I'm not one to let unprovoked attacks go unpunished. Tell me about the bad-bloods that attacked you, though." He said.

Drag'lan told Alaric what he remembered of the day his squad had died.

Alaric nodded after Drag'lan had finished. "Ah, that sounds like the faction that tried to kill me when I was a child and attacked me and my group on my first hunt. If you can call being stuck on an ice ball with prehistoric bugs a first hunt."

"I would call that one hell of a challenge." Drag'lan responded. "Either way, they've been pissing everyone off. The first group that attacked me made one hell of a mistake when they left me to the Xenos, however. I've lost way too much to fall to something as trivial as them."

Alaric gave a curt chuckle.

"That's like my situation." Alaric said, seeming somewhat impressed. "Only the ones that I wiped out on my first hunt provoked me to my rage mode after some... dishonorable tactics."

"That's one way to send me into one of my own." Drag'lan asked. "Anyway, what brings you to this neck of the woods, pun not intended?"

Alaric looked at him with a neutral gaze, like he was withholding certain information.

"Hunting, in a sense. I'm gonna say that you're doing the same, right?" He said.

Drag'lan shrugged and nodded.

"That, and testing this new toy of mine out." He said, extending his arm-blade and holding it out. "It works at least. Sure as hell beats wrist-blades in my book, even though this swings a bit slower."

"Not bad of a design. Mono-edged, hardened for penetration. It's of Val'hariz's making, I take it?" Alaric asked after a brief inspection.

Drag'lan nodded.

"Who else?" He asked. "He also made my armor, though I did have to help a lot with it. I mean, look at my pauldrons and sabatons."

Alaric nodded. He could imagine Val'hariz's stubbornness for new design rather then the tried and tested designs of his race.

"What did you engrave into your armor anyway?" He asked after noticing the runes. "It doesn't look like anything I've ever seen before."

"Runes written in the Regollen language that stand for words." Drag'lan said "My arm-blade has runes that mean 'Those that fight with dishonor shall feel my sting'. My chest-piece has my mother and father's birth-runes, and my leg-plates have 'Relief' and 'Suffering' on them."

"Why would you do that to your armor, though?" Alaric asked. "Ancestral values?"

Drag'lan's shrugged.

"That's one reason." He said. "Another is that they make the armor have meaning to me, which makes me want to take care of it."

Alaric looked at him.

"Alright. I can respect that." He said, subconsciously clasping the locket around his neck. "On a different note, you said you were part of the USCMC, right?"

Drag'lan nodded.

"Yeah. Why do you ask?" He said.

"Which branch of the corps were you part of? I think I caught word of someone that had your fighting style while I was serving." Alaric asked.

"I was with the Reapers for about four years before they got taken out." Drag'lan said.

"That explains it. Captain Kapowski had said something while I was in briefing about us working with the Reapers once." Alaric said. "Now I can put your blades in a better perspective."

"Wait a second. Davis had said we were gonna be working with a Spec Ops squad once, too." Drag'lan said. "I got it. You were with the Archangels, right?"

"Yes." Alaric said. "You guys had taken the North side while we took south of a large hive extermination. You were handed the north due to the sheer number of Xenos in the way as a diversion for us to strike at the Queen."

Drag'lan nodded.

"Makes sense, as the Reapers had four smart-guns in them." Drag'lan said.

They would've kept talking like that, but another baloth came into the area, only this one was at least 50 feet tall. Drag'lan closed his helmet and pulled out Toxin and Regoll. Alaric slipped his mask on.

"Alright." He said. "If you can keep it busy, I can take it out."

Alaric looked at him.

"Just take it down fast." He said, revving up his plasma-casters again.

Drag'lan watched as Alaric fired his plasma-casters at the baloth. It focused on Alaric as Drag'lan ran towards its flank. He pulled the same tactic as he had with the previous baloth. It was even harder for him to keep his grip, but managed it in the end. As he climbed, Alaric's voice came over the speakers of his helmet.

"If you're gonna kill it, do it now. It's starting to look frustrated." He said.

"Moving as fast as I can under the circumstances." Drag'lan said. "It'll be down in a few."

Drag'lan hastened his climb, and hit the back. He ran along it, keeping his balance rather well. As he ran across its back, he saw Alaric still managing to dodge it's front limbs as it tried to trample him and its jaws.

"Okay, Alaric. This'll be over in a few more seconds." He said.

"Counting." Alaric replied.

He dove onto the baloth's head and drove his great-swords into the back of its skull. He then released Toxin and extended Honorbringer, which he then stabbed into the baloth's head. He also drove Regoll deeper in through hitting the handle with his fist. He heard it give a gurgling roar as its brain was stabbed. He also felt and saw the baloth pitching forward.

_Go fucking figure._ He thought. _I should've known that this was gonna happen._

He kept holding onto Regoll, keeping his arm-blade in the baloth's skull as it went down. Its head hit the ground first, digging its face into the dirt. He was able to stay on the thing and retracted Honorbringer. He then removed and sheathed Toxin and Regoll. He looked at Alaric as he leaped off of it.

"Right, before we were interrupted, where were we?" He said. " Oh, with the mission where our squads were working together. Personally, I think we got it easier than you guys did. The Reapers, as all cleanse and burn groups go, were built to handle Xeno hives. Maybe not hives of that size, but we might have been able to handle it."

Alaric shrugged at this.

"Doesn't matter to me in the slightest if it was a bigger and had a queen mother inside." He said. "Either way, we killed that bitch of a queen that hive had. I saw to that myself using a tank as a battering ram to her face."

He smirked.

"I swear she left a faceprint of the tank before she imploded." he commented.

Drag'lan laughed.

"Sounds like something I'd do." He said. "Well I came close to that when I sent a fucking rocket flying straight into her head."

He looked at Alaric.

"So, what are you gonna do now?" He asked.

"Most likely I'm going to hunt a bit more. Wait for the right target to appear." Alaric said. "Either way, nice work for the assistance with those two creatures. Not that they were much trouble on my own"

Drag'lan nodded.

"Don't mention it." He said. "Well, feel free to take this one's head. I only take the skulls of targets that were challenges, and that one wasn't too much of one."

"Why do you do that?" Alaric asked. "How are the clan members supposed to believe that you've killed something if you don't have evidence? Kal'deris mostly."

Drag'lan tapped his helmet.

"Two reasons. First, I had a special camera built into this." He said simply. "I can pull videos from it as proof. Second, it's just the way the Regollen work; The Regollen never took trophies, to my knowledge."

"Whatever works for you." Alaric said, drawing his great axe. "Still, I prefer having some hard evidence, in a manner of speaking."

Drag'lan nodded.

"That's you. I'm different." He said, starting to walk away. "Either way, see ya around, Alaric."

Alaric called out something to Drag'lan in a language he had never heard before. It sounded like a mix of Ancient greek and archaic yautjan. He turned around and looked at Alaric with confusion.

"That means 'Ancestors watch over you." Alric called out, before hacking his axe into the Baloth's neck.

"Trust me, you have no idea how true that is." Drag'lan said, subconsciously stroking the hilts of Physique and Ethereal before turning back around. "But thanks."

As he did so, it was hard to fight the impulse to turn back around.

_Wouldn't do much good._ He thought in the end. _He strikes me as the type to work best alone, much like I am._

With that said, he started walking back to his ship. He had done what he had meant to do. There was no reason to stay longer.


	24. Chapter 23

This is another crossover. The character S'loss belongs to the person Drakhand006 (.com/).

Chapter 23 - Angering the Brute

Drag was walking through the docks to his ship, trying to get away from it all. The previous night, he and Fral had had a rather heated discussion.

Fral stared at him in anger.

"We've been together for the past 4 months." She said. "We're mates, for all intents and purposes."

Drag'lan nodded.

"That may be." He said. "But, Fral, Regollen have much different ways of deciding on mates than you Yautja."

"What does it matter?" She asked. "We're matches for each other. Why do we have to wait?"

Drag'lan locked gazes with Fral at this.

"Because I want to see how much you can tolerate when it comes to waiting." He said. "It's also a test to see how much pain you'd be willing to go through for our love."

"What?" Fral asked. "What does any of that have to do with this?"

Drag'lan kept his gaze and tone neutral when he next spoke, despite the anger and annoyance he felt.

"It has everything to do with this." He said. "When a pair of Regollen decide to be bonded for life, and they take over 3 years to do so, they have opposite halves of a very intricate symbol carved into opposing shoulders. It's their way of proving that they'll stay together forever."

Fral just stared at him.

"So you're doing this because of what your ancestor's believed?" She asked.

Drag'lan just nodded.

"Well, then." She said. "I guess that I'll just have to wait for you to decide when you're ready to have this done."

Drag'lan nodded again.

"I also have to wait for you to be ready to go through with it, too." He said. "And don't say that you are ready. I can tell in your eyes that you're not ready for the commitment yet."

He didn't have a good sleep that night. He actually had to get up and walk alone in the dark to clear his head before heading back to Fral's place and falling asleep again.

_What the hell does she want me to do?_ He thought. _I am the way I am because of my family._

As he approached his ship, lost in his thoughts, he quite nearly crashed into a huge yautja. While he might have thought that the yautja looked familiar, too much was on his mind for him to notice. He just barely managed to dodge the yautja.

_I just need a slight break._ He thought. _Somewhere peaceful so that I can get in tune with myself again._

When he got onto his ship, he walked straight into his training room and slammed a fist into one of the targets at full-force, shattering it.

"Does she have a problem with the way Regollen mating traditions work?" He asked to nobody.

He did a double-take when he heard his father's voice in his head.

_Maybe we were wrong about her this entire time._ His father said. _Maybe she wasn't the one for you._

_How can you say that, after what you've seen us go through?_ He replied. _You've seen how we act around each other. It's meant to be._

_Just bringing up the possibility of us both being mistaken._ His father said. _On the bright side, you have someone else that you could see, if you and Fral don't work out._

_And who would that be?_Drag'lan asked, although he thought he had a good idea who his father would bring up.

_That female that saved you._ His father said. _What was her name again?_

Drag'lan knew it; His father was bringing up Luar-Ke-Sain'ja.

_I'm not sure how her clan would react, though._ He thought. _That, and I don't know how she feels about me._

_Fair enough._ His father said. _I was just bringing up your options._

With that, his father retreated from his mind.

Drag'lan then went to the cockpit and programmed the coordinates of a planet he had gone to while he was part of the Reapers, one that had a calming effect on his mind. It might have been a drug or something in the air, but whatever it did, he felt at peace more when he was there than anywhere else he had been in his life, aside from among his genetic family.

36 hours later

Drag'lan was walking through the forest of what looked like a mix of jungle trees and pines. As he had thought, the environment was having a soothing effect on his mind. He felt the anger and anxiety that had been accruing over the past months leaving.

He also heard the sounds of the animals, and one in particular threw him off, as it was one he had never heard before. It was a weird crashing sound, with the echo making it sound like it was coming from _everywhere_at the exact same time.

_Now, that's interesting._He thought.

Then, without warning, he saw what looked like a huge worm crash through a group of trees, only it had the head of what he had heard Hawkins call a Hydra.

_What the fuck is this thing?_ He thought. _I've never seen anything like this before._

The creature cut into his thoughts, lunging at him, its maw gaping open. He saw that it had a jaw lined with serrated teeth. It was about as wide as he was tall, and the act of it lunging at him told him whether it was hostile or not.

"Shit." He said out loud. "Not exactly what I wanted when I came here, but this might help me funnel out some aggression."

He dove to the right, dodging the jaws of the creature. He brought out Toxin, the runes on it glowing sky blue, signaling a challenge. He watched as the creature turned around and started to charge at him again, only this time, he was ready for it, as he was scaling a nearby tree. As it neared the tree, he leaped off of it, landing squarely on the creature's body. He then raised Toxin and brought it down into the creature's body, causing it to roar. The roar penetrated his ears, causing serious pain with the sheer volume. He fought through the pain and pulled Toxin out of the creature, slick with purple blood.

"I don't have time for this shit!" He said loudly, running along the thing's spine, and leaping onto it's head, stabbing Toxin into where the base of its skull should be.

He felt the blade slide home easily and felt the beast go limp, its brain having been pierced. He jumped off of it as it stopped, landing squarely on his feet.

_That was nowhere as hard as I thought it would've been._He thought.

With that, he walked away; the scavengers of this planet, and there were many, would clean up most of the mess. As he walked, he felt that some of the aggression that he had held in as he argued with Fral had been released in the slight conflict with that creature.

Walking on, he listened to the wilderness once again. It had gone eerily silent for the past few minutes, which unnerved him. Something was wrong, he could tell. Hell, his innate 'Sixth Sense' went off briefly, causing him to duck reflexively. Another thing that helped to cause him to duck was the fact that in the silence, he could've sworn he heard a familiar electric discharge right before his sense went off.

After he ducked, a bolt of blue flew past where his head had been, impacting a tree and exploding. He pulled out Physique and Ethereal as he rose again.

"Show yourself, if you got the balls." He said, in a challenging tone.

He heard multiple preds uncloak. With the amount of noise he heard, he'd put their number at around six. He sheathed Ethereal and Physique.

"We've been looking for you. Apparently, you pissed someone off to the point where they hired us to take your head to them." He heard a voice say. "And seeing you now, I can't see why they'd want us to do that."

Drag'lan tensed himself, prepared for the fight that was about to ensue.

"Appearances can be deceiving." He said simply. "And, just out of curiosity, who hired you to kill me?"

"Does it matter?" The same voice replied. "You're about to die."

"I wouldn't be too sure about that." Drag'lan said, his voice holding a tone of doubt. "But you can try, as many have before you."

He heard the sound of a Predator landing behind him and felt the thundering footfalls of it as it charged him. On instinct, he rolled to the left, dodging the charge. The Predator pulled a quick u-turn, and Drag'lan got a clear look at its armor. It had armor that covered its shins, chest, groin and upper arms, but it had little other armor. On its shoulder rested a plasma caster pod, which still had heat waves billowing from it. Clearly, it was the one that fired on him. Its skin was a sickly mottled green. Its mask was what was supposed to make the entire thing seem intimidating; It had what looked like the jaw ligaments of a snake-like creature on it as well as spines along the middle of the forehead.

"Well, since I doubt I'll be able to bring you down myself, jump on in, everyone." The predator said. "Let's GET HIM!"

Drag'lan heard, as well as felt the impacts of the other five yautja hitting the ground.

"Froyl." He said under his breathe. "I was hoping for something like this not to happen, but whatever."

He heard the one that was behind him running at him, and closed his eyes. He felt the footfalls and spun, kicking out, which swept the legs out from underneath the yautja as they got closer. He then heard the other 4 converging on him, and did a backward roll, giving him some distance between them and him. He felt his anger flare at their actions.

"What's the matter with you?" He asked, the anger beginning to creep into his voice. "Do you yautja think so little of yourself as to attack someone as a group rather than act alone?"

"We're a team, and teams stick together." The lead yautja said. "Now it's time to end this. Yer'thar, get him."

Drag'lan felt his anger flare much more at this. He pulled off his helmet and threw it aside, revealing his jet-black orbs for eyes. He struggled to control the rage he felt, and felt his resolve strengthen for some reason. He watched as the largest yautja of the group started charging at him, and started charging as well, lowering his shoulder, showing the blades on his pauldrons to his target. When they collided, his blades were driven underneath the yautja's ribcage, and the yautja wasn't just stopped, but went with Drag'lan as he kept going, slamming it back into a tree, where he stood for a good 10 seconds, its blood seeping over the blades and down his armor, making large rivulets of fluorescent green which also run down his arm.

Apparently, the other yautja were shocked when they saw this happen, because none of them did anything. The yautja he impaled went limp, and he slid the blades out and stepped back. He looked at the rest of the group and his gaze hardened.

"Who's next?" He asked, almost nonchalantly. "If you're as weak as your buddy here, you should just leave now and never come back."

One of the group, a female this time, charged at him and leaped at him, extending her spear as she flew. Drag'lan unsheathed Regoll at this, the runes glowing as dark a black as his eyes were, showing intense hatred. He stood his ground, but as she neared the ground, he ran forward, closing the distance in an even shorter amount of time than it had taken to close the distance with the bad-blood that had attacked him on Fral's ship.

Before she had a chance to swing her spear in defense, he had impaled her with Regoll one-handed. The blade met her in the abdomen and erupted out of her back, behind the heart. This really got the group going, as they started to split up and attack him in a cycle. The third one didn't fare better than the second, only it had Ethereal stabbed through its neck. The fourth had the worst luck of the group, especially because the yautja in question was a male.

This poor soul had the misfortune of leaping at Drag'lan as well, only Drag'lan rolled forward, holding his arm up as he stood up, catching him by the family jewels and pulling down, which made a VERY sickening _rip_, and the yautja crashed to the ground, then curled up in the fetal position, whimpering.

~ Side-note: VERY bad (and sick I might add) pun here, but now that Pred is free-ballin'.~

Drag'lan threw the genitalia that he held away with disgust. The fifth, another female, saw how he had brought down the previous yautja, and charged, roaring as she went. Drag'lan rolled to the right, easily dodging the charge. He brought out Physique and waited for her to charge at him again before sidestepping the charge and swinging his sword, severing her legs roughly at the knees. In a rare demonstration of mercy, he plunged Physique into her heart, ending her life.

The final yautja, the leader, just gaped at Drag'lan, who glared back in intense hatred.

"That was my team you just killed!" He said, clearly unnerved at what Drag'lan had done. "We've worked together for around 20 years, with the exception of the newest one, which has only been around for a few months, but you just walked through us as if we were nothing!"

Drag'lan's voice shook with rage when he replied, all the while pulling out Physique and sheathing it.

"Then you shouldn't have angered me through dishonorable tactics." He said, releasing Physique and turning to face the final yautja. "It's your own damn fault at that point."

This had the effect he wanted; It provoked a roar from the final yautja, who charged. As it did, Drag'lan charged as well. When they met, it was there that the blows REALLY started flying. Drag'lan wasn't holding back, and neither was the yautja. Drag'lan flowed like water, dodging most of the blows the yautja threw, and threw some rather vicious punches of his own. One in particular, probably the most damaging, came from the fact that the yautja managed to land a rather heavy blow into Drag'lan's right side, causing him to go lower on that side, allowing for more force to be put into the blow, which slammed squarely into the ribcage of the yautja, cracking, if not breaking, a rib or two. The yautja backed up after this, and extended its wrist-blades.

_Oh FUCK no._ Drag'lan thought. _He's not surviving now._

Drag'lan extended Honorbringer, and looked at the yautja in hatred.

"Let's see what you got, ball-less." He said.

The yautja roared as it made a swipe at his chest, but he raised Honorbringer, blocking the swing. Drag'lan then kicked the yautja, sending it back a bit, which gave some distance between the two of them. Drag'lan then charged at the yautja, who did the same, only it made another swing at him. He twisted to dodge it, but didn't twist enough, as the wrist-blades raked across the gap between his chest-plate and his leg-plates on his left side. With all of the adrenaline coursing through his body, Drag'lan didn't register the pain, however.

Drag'lan replied by swinging at the yautja's side with Honorbringer, scoring a major hit, leaving a large gash along its side, which followed a rib. This brought it down, but it got back up and whipped around, but Drag'lan had already done so, and was already bringing Honorbringer up, catching the yautja right under the mask, impaling its head on the blade. Honorbringer exploded out of the forehead area of the yautja's mask, spraying blood everywhere with the sheer force at which it erupted from the yautja's mask. Drag'lan retracted Honorbringer and stepped back, watching the body fall.

Within seconds of doing this, Drag'lan felt a huge stab of pain in his side and clapped a hand over the area. He stumbled from the clearing into the foliage, leaning against a tree and pulling out a vial of the healing salve his family made. With one hand, he put the stopper in his mouth and pulled it free. He then spread a lot of the salve on the wounds he had obtained, which were two large gashes where his armor didn't cover. He inhaled deeply as the stinging started, as the gashes were rather large. Once the pain had subsided a bit, he walked back to where he had massacred the bad-bloods; He needed to retrieve his swords.

When he arrived, he saw that the one that he had neutered was gone. That wasn't a good sign; There could be another bad-blood around. He quickly retrieved Ethereal, pulling it out and sheathing it, but when he pulled out Regoll, he heard heavy footfalls behind him, and steeled himself. Once they got close, he spun, starting to swing Regoll. He just barely managed to stop from embedding the blade into the yautja's side in time when he recognized them. The mask looked exactly like the yautja that had helped Fral and her dad's party rescue his group. S'loss.

Drag'lan shook as he held the sword, then lowered it.

"Wow." He said, his voice still slightly shaking from the adrenaline rush. "Wouldn't have expected to run into you here, of all places."

"I remember you." S'loss said. "You were of that group I helped rescue a couple months back."

Drag'lan nodded.

"Didn't expect you to remember that." He said. "But then again, it's kind of hard to forget someone like me, though."

"Yes." S'loss said. "You're a bit reckless, but I can tell that you're a very capable warrior. That much I respect."

Drag'lan nodded again.

"That's a very good observation, as I was trained by my father." He said.

Drag'lan then felt a stab of guilt for nearly slamming his sword into S'loss's side.

"Also, for what it's worth, sorry about nearly attacking you." He said. "I was just attacked by about six Bad-bloods, one of which is missing."

"I saw that. I was the person who moved the only survivor." S'loss said. "Not that bad of fighting, by the way."

Drag'lan nodded in understanding.

"That would explain why he was missing." He said.

"Yes." S'loss said. "But I stand by my statement that you are an impressive fighter."

Drag'lan looked at him in surprise.

"Now that's surprising." He said. "Normally, yautja are always picking fights with me over my abilities and the fact that I'm part of a yautja clan. Why aren't you?"

"Because I, unlike a lot of other yautja, don't care if a person in a yautja clan isn't a yautja." S'loss replied. "All I care is that they have the spirit of a warrior and fight with honor."

Drag'lan nodded.

"Both of those apply to me, until you piss me off." He said. "Once that happens, honor gets thrown out the window. It's just those times, however."

S"loss looked at his hair.

"Back to the clan conversation, though." He said. "I can tell that you're part yautja. The way your hair looks is natural."

"You're one of the few to notice that." Drag'lan said with a slight chuckle. "Mostly people don't care about my hair, as they see it as something that humans do for the hell of it. Unfortunately for them, I'm anything but human."

S'loss just gazed at him.

"What does that mean?" He asked.

"It means that I'm not all that I seem." Drag'lan said. "Watch this."

With that, he extended Honorbringer and made a small cut on the middle of his left hand. He then squeezed it to cause the blood to drip out. S'loss just watched as the slightly fluorescent blue blood dripped out.

"See what I mean?" Drag'lan said, noticing this with a smirk. "How many humans have you seen with this color of blood?"

"None, but then, I've never really seen anything." S'loss said.

Drag'lan just looked at him, confused.

"What do you mean by that?" He asked.

Without answering, S'loss reached up, pulled off the tubes sealing his mask, and removed it. Underneath, Drag'lan saw what he had meant.

"You're blind." He said. "That explains why your mask is the way it is, but that also begs the question: How do you manage to know about your surroundings?"

S'loss waited until he had his mask on before answering.

"Few people know that I'm blind. And I prefer to keep it that way." He said. "To answer your question, however, I am able to see through the sensors and upgrades that are in the mask."

"Very well." Drag'lan said. "That being said, I need to retrieve my helmet."

He walked to where he had thrown his helmet. Without hesitation, he picked it up and put it back on.

"Oh." He said as he turned back to S'loss. "Don't worry about other people knowing you're blind. I never tell a person's secrets. But I think it would be interesting if you and I sparred."

S'loss shook his head.

"No." He said. "I still have to deal with that yautja that you castrated. I've been tracking him for the past few months."

Drag'lan frowned in his helmet, but nodded.

"Whatever." He said. "Your call, but maybe some other time, you and I will be able to pit our abilities against each other."

"Yes. Maybe." S'loss said.

With that, S'loss turned and walked away.

Drag'lan watched as S'loss disappeared into the foliage. He then turned and started walking away as well, following his ship's signal. On his way, he heard the sounds of the forest. It soothed his spirit, as it normally did. However, again, he heard a sound that caught his ear. This time, it sounded like trees getting torn by a saw. He turned to face the direction of the sound's origin, but couldn't see what was making the noise, _yet_.

_What the hell is that sound?_He thought, pulling out Regoll and Toxin.

The sound was soon made visible, a creature like the thing he had taken out before getting attacked by the bad-bloods coming crashing into view. The main differences between them was that this one had spines running along its body, and it was a bit smaller. He smirked behind his helmet.

_Now this might be challenging._He thought.

The creature made the first move, lunging at him. Drag'lan responded by diving to his left. As the creature pulled a 180 and turned around to face him, he was already starting to run up a tree. As it neared the tree, he leaped off of it, landing on its back. He raised Toxin and plunged it squarely to the hilt into the creature. It roared and spun, trying to reach him. Now he had two things to dodge: The creature itself, and the creature's spines. This fight was getting more interesting by the second. He pulled Toxin free and started running along the creature's back as best he could. As he was running, he caught sight of the creature's head and, seeing the best opportunity to severely injure, if not outright kill, the beast, leaped at its head, coming at the thing from the side and slamming Regoll and Toxin into the side of what he'd call its neck. His immense forward momentum caused him to keep going, slamming into the beast's skin, and he ran up the side of its neck, dragging his blades with him, causing huge gashes to form. The creature roared at this, but Drag'lan kept going.

He didn't stop until he hit the ground, with the creature's blood, a blackish color in contrast to its relative's, POURING over the blades and onto his armor. The thing tipped away from him, dead, and Drag'lan finished the circle before the head partially separated from the thing's neck. Drag'lan kicked the head, finishing the separation between the creature's head and it's neck.

Drag'lan just stood there breathing heavily before sheathing Toxin and Regoll. He then tasted a rather nasty flavor in his mouth and spit out a small glob of black. Apparently, the blood of the creature had gotten into his mouth at some point.

"Fuck, that's nasty." He said, still spitting. "Nothing worse than spitting out blood that aint yours."

After clearing his mouth of the black blood of that creature, he grabbed a hold of the creatures head by means of a small set of spines that ran along it. He then dragged the head across the ground back to his ship, where he removed its skull and cleaned it before mounting it on his trophy wall, joining the duo of Predalien skulls he had acquired. He shook his head, and put it closer to the ground than its size would call for. He had had a more troubling time killing the Predaliens than that thing. Then he walked to the cockpit and programmed the coordinates of Lai'Kairis. After he felt the ship take off, he walked to what the restroom to get himself cleaned up; He wanted to look somewhat presentable when he returned to Fral, and being covered in blood wasn't the way to do that.


	25. Chapter 24

Chapter 24 - The Price of Love

Drag was sitting next to Fral, their ship hurtling towards the planet on which they had met. He was silent, which in of itself wasn't odd, but his attitude was; He seemed really annoyed with something. Fral noticed this and decided to bring it up.

"What's wrong?" She asked, pulling her eyes from the emptiness of space. "You seem annoyed about something."

Drag'lan looked at her with a neutral gaze.

"It's nothing." He said. "Just remembering something that happened around 3 years ago."

_Drag'lan took a seat in the APC, not sure what to expect with this mission. All he knew was that there was a serious Xeno Extremist problem on this planet. That was the extent of Davis' knowledge on the matter as well. Not much had changed since the last few missions, but he watched the rest of the team intently, just the same._

_"What's up, Drag?" John asked, looking genuinely concerned, which he was entitled to be, as he was one of the 4 remaining Reapers that had helped to raise him. "You seem ticked off about something."_

_Drag'lan shook his head._

_"I just don't like the lack of information we've been given concerning this mission." He said. "This HAS to be more than a simple Xenos-Extremist cleaning mission."_

_"Well, I don't know about that, Drag." John said. "But Davis told us everything Command told him, so I doubt there's much more than that."_

_Drag'lan just shook his head again._

_"I don't like the feeling I'm getting from the mission is all." He said. "It's not just the lack of intel, but just the location and everything."_

_"I hear that, but let's just get to the spot where we're slated to meet with Alpha Team." John said._

_Drag'lan nodded at this, and pulled out his pistol, inspecting it. he wanted to make sure everything was in working order before the operation went down._

_8 hours later_

_Drag'lan stood with his back against the wall near a doorway. The final extremist, this one most likely being the leader, was just past the door. Davis and the leader from Alpha Team were on the other side. The extremist was covered in armor, with the Pulse Rifle rounds just bouncing off of it. The guy was also spraying Pulse Rifle rounds out the door like it was nothing, yelling about how the Xenomorphs were divine creatures the entire time. The guy was really starting to tick Drag'lan off. To that end, he turned to the leader of Alpha Team._

_"Can we just kill him and get the hell outta here?" He asked._

_The leader of Alpha Team nodded._

_"That we can." He said._

_"You sure?" Drag'lan asked. "You don't wanna interrogate him?"_

_"Nope." The leader said. "Kill him, by all means."_

_Drag'lan then turned to Davis._

_"Sir, requesting permission to 'pop' this son of a bitch." He said._

_"Go ahead, Drag." Davis said. "Take his sorry ass out."_

_Drag'lan slung his Pulse Rifle and pulled out his custom pistol. He pulled out the clip and checked it. It had the special explosive rounds he used, so he slammed it back in and chambered a round._

_"Alright." He said quietly. "Time to die, you damn son of a bitch."_

_Without warning, he spun into the doorway and fired a single shot, which hammered directly into the extremist's chest, embedding right in a lung. It didn't take long for the extremist to realize he was dead when it went off. After everything was said and done, the only thing that was left of the guy were his armored boots. The leader of Alpha Team walked into the room and his jaw dropped._

_"Now I know why they called you guys in." He said._

_Davis nodded._

_"Now, if we're done here, I wanna take my squad back to base to get payed." He said_

_"Why?" The other leader asked. "What group are you?"_

_"The Reapers." Drag'lan said nonchalantly. "If you want proof, look at the patch."_

_The leader's eyes widened at hearing this._

_"Oh shit…" He said. "No wonder you guys just walked through the extremists. Also explains why you said 'get paid'."_

_Davis nodded again._

_"Now, let's get outta here." He said to Drag. "Our work is done."_

_Drag'lan nodded._

_"Yes, Davis." He said. He was through with this place._

"Boy was that one hell of a mess to clean up." Drag'lan said after he finished the story.

"I'll bet it was." Fral said with a laugh. "I've seen what your pistol does, and that's very understandable."

"But anyway, that's what I was thinking about." Drag'lan said. "And I'm surprised you wanted to join me on this trip."

"Well, I don't trust that you won't ambushed again." Fral said. "That, and the cough you've developed in the past 3 days has me worried."

Drag'lan saw the truth in her worry; Ever since the fight with the bad-blood group, he had developed a bad cough. That worried him as well; Normally, he would've only had the cough for a day at the most. The fact that he had had the cough for over three days now was definitely worth the worry that Fral had.

"I'll be fi-" He started to say, but he doubled over as another fit of coughing began. His chest felt as if it were on fire throughout it, as with the other coughing fits he had. After he felt the fit pass, he remained doubled over, breathing deeply. The pain quickly subsided, but he knew that it would return.

"See what I mean?" Fral asked, gesturing at how he was doubled over. "I don't want you to be alone if that cough turns really nasty."

"Thanks, Fral." Drag'lan said. "That makes me feel a bit better."

"You're welcome." Fral said. "But why did you want to come back to this planet, after all that you experienced here?"

"I want to give the Reapers a proper funeral. Their bodies may not be here, but that doesn't mean that they don't deserve burials like the soldiers they were." Drag'lan said. "In life, they saved my life. In death, I shall honor them as if they're family, which, in a way, they are."

"I understand that." Fral said. "A few years after my clan was wiped out and I was taken in by my new family, I was taken back with the orphans that survived, and together, we constructed a shrine to put our families and clan members to rest."

Drag'lan nodded.

"That's effectively what I'm going to do." He said. "But I want to do it alone. It wouldn't honor them to have help with this."

"I'll agree to that." Fral said. "Well, we're here."

She was right; the planet where they had met showed up in front of them.

"Take me to the hive where we met, and I'll find my way back to where the Reapers were murdered." Drag'lan said.

"You got it." Fral said.

2 hours later

Drag'lan and Fral had just arrived at the hive, and the pair disembarked. Drag'lan had left his helmet off, wanting to have a clear line of sight. Fral just stood behind him as he looked around, and closed his eyes. As he ran through memories, he turned towards what would be East, if looked at like a standard compass.

"We need to head this-"

A Xeno screech interrupted what he was saying.

"Shit! Is there any place where the Xenos aren't?" He said.

Without missing a beat, he climbed a tree, in order to see where the damn thing was. As he was scanning the forest floor, he felt Fral climb onto the branch next to him.

"Any luck in finding your target yet?" She asked.

"Not ye- Wait." He said. "There it is. Look."

He then pointed at the black form crawling its way through the forest.

"How are you gonna proceed?" Fral asked.

"Oh, I'm gonna give the term 'getting the drop on my target' a whole new definition." Drag'lan said, with a creepy grin on his face.

"What do you mean by that?" Fral asked.

"Just wait for the Xeno to pass under the branch, and you'll see." Drag'lan said.

Sure enough, as the Xeno passed under the branch, Drag'lan jumped off of the branch, plummeting to the ground feet-first. He landed squarely on the Xeno's back, crushing it into the ground and causing its blood to spray into the trees and vegetation around it.

He felt Fral land beside him after the blood had eaten its way through the plants a bit.

"That's what I meant." He said.

Fral laughed a bit.

"That's funny." She said. "You literally 'dropped in' on the Kainde Amedha."

"That's the point of the joke." Drag'lan said. "But let's move on."

The pair then started walking through the forest, but another Xeno screech, much lower this time, echoed through the hive next to them and into the jungle.

"What the fuck was that?" Drag'lan asked.

"I don't know, but it doesn't sound good." Fral said.

Then, at the most in-opportune time, Drag'lan doubled over, coughing again.

"Shit, Drag." Fral said. "We really need to get you to see a doctor when we get back to Lai'Kairis."

Drag'lan regained his composure.

"Tell me something I don't know." He said. "And no smartass replies."

"Maybe you should sit this fight out." Fral said, her voice showing serious worry.

Drag'lan shook his head.

"Can't do that." He said. "A Regollen will never back down from a fight."

"But your cough could end up getting you killed." Fral said. "And I don't want to see you die."

Drag'lan shook his head again.

"If it's my time to die, it's my time to die. I won't run from death." He said. "The true warrior fights in the face of death with more determination than the fighter in the same position."

Fral looked him in the eyes after he said this.

"I just don't want to lose you." She said. "You're the one thing I have that truly makes me want to live."

"You won't." Drag'lan said. "I've survived both of my families dieing, plus all of those hunts I've been on. I'm a survivor."

"But with those past events, you weren't impaired by a very nasty cough." Fral said.

"True, but I adapt my tactics to fit the situation." Drag'lan said. "That's what allows me to survive so well."

Without giving Fral a chance to reply, Drag'lan went charging down the tunnel where he felt the roar had originated from. As he went flying down the tunnel, he saw the hive was more intricate than the last time they'd been here.

Then, about a minute later, Drag'lan turned a corner and got back-handed by something. He was sent flying into the wall, crashing to the floor. When he looked up, he saw a Xenomorph that truly horrified him; It was the size of the second Predalien he had faced on his first hunt, but it had some slight Regollen features. His eyes widened.

"What the FUCK?" He said in Regollen.

The thing roared, and the sound pounded on Drag'lan's ears, but he could tell that it was the one that had roared earlier. Drag'lan's mind was filled with only one thought: To kill this thing and put its victim to rest.

_Ancestors,_ He thought. _Give me the strength to slay this creature, and give its victim the right to rest in the land of their ancestors._

With that, he charged at the Regollen Xeno. As he approached, he saw it raise its arm, and ducked underneath the blow. Without missing a beat, he leaped up and slammed his sabatons into its chest, which caused it to skid back a few feet. As he fell to the ground, he pulled Physique and Ethereal out. He landed on his feet perfectly, but watched as the Regollen Xeno lashed at him with its tail. While he deflected the tail with Physique, the monstrosity was already charging at him. As it approached, Drag'lan rolled to the right, holding Ethereal out. It missed Ethereal, if only barely. It then pulled an abrupt u-turn that would've been hard, even for Drag'lan, to pull off.

The thing then tried to claw him, but he managed to dodge it. Drag'lan tried to land a slice on it, but somehow, the creature managed to dodge it, something that shouldn't have been possible with it's build. It responded by back-handing him again, causing his swords to go flying. He slammed into the wall with enough force to cause his vision to go blurry. He felt the Regollen Xeno's clawed hand close around his arms and chest, and was lifted into the air. His vision started to clear as it raised its tail to impale his face, but just as the tail was twitching to strike, the head of a halberd slammed into the arm that held him. That same arm released him as the Xeno turned its attention to the newest combatant: Fral.

Drag'lan wrenched Fral's spear free of its arm and threw it to her. She caught it flawlessly, but the Regollen Xeno lashed at her with its tail. While she twisted to avoid it, it raked her side, where there was no armor, leaving a rather nasty-looking gash. She fought through the pain, but Drag'lan charged at it, bringing out Toxin and Regoll in the process. With its back turned to him, it fully focused on Fral, who was backing away, but was quickly running out of space to move. As she hit the wall, Drag'lan was closing the last few feet between him and it, leaping into the air and plunging the blades through its back, causing them to erupt from the Regollen-Xeno's chest. Apparently, the blades came too close to Fral for comfort, because Drag'lan heard her roll, seeing her emerge to his right. The Regollen-Xeno roared one last time, trailing off into silence, before it slammed into the ground.

Drag'lan pulled Regoll and Toxin free of it and saw that, like the Predaliens he had slain on his first hunt, the blades were coated with blood, only this blood was a very sickening turquoise. He sheathed Regoll and Toxin before retrieving and sheathing Physique and Ethereal. He then looked at Fral.

"Sorry if I came close to hitting you with my swords." He said. "But it was either that or watch you run out of room to move and risk losing you. I don't want to lose you just as much as you don't want to lose me."

"I understand, Jehdin Sain'ja." Fral said after a nod, using his primary Yautjan name. "We need to leave, though, before more-"

A large amount of hissing cut her off.

"C'jit!" She said. "See what I mean now?"

Drag'lan shrugged.

"Honestly, Fral." He said. "I wanted to know what that sound was, and if I knew what it was that made the sound before, I would've still run. It's the same feeling as your people with Predaliens, from what Greth told me."

"That may be true, but-"

"Shit, Fral!" Drag'lan said loudly, activating his plasma caster. "Turn around!"

As she did, Drag'lan fired his plasma caster 5 times, the bolts shooting past Fral and into a large Xeno swarm. Since the last time he had fired it, Drag'lan had had the weapon modified to explode in a larger radius, causing not only the target but everything around the target to get hit with plasma. The shots had the desired effect, culling the Xeno swarm slightly. Without thinking, Drag'lan went charging head-long into the swarm, like he had done when Greth, Fral's dad and mom, her and him went to retrieve his ship. He pulled out Regoll and Toxin, so he wasn't in much danger of attacking when not holding a weapon. He was more concerned about Fral getting out alive than himself.

"Go, Fral." He said. "I'll hold them off."

"No." He heard her say. "I'm not leaving you to…to…"

Drag'lan heard her voice trail off before hearing a barely audible _thud_above the carnage he was releasing. He fired his plasma-caster 5 more times into the hoarde, giving him somebreathing room to act. He turned around to see her on her side on the ground. His eyes widened; It COULDN'T be! She COULDN'T be dead! Drag'lan ran to her side with unnerving speed, wrapped his arms under her shoulders and pulled her into a chamber that had only one entrance. It would serve as the best safe room he could get under the circumstances. He then charged back out into the corridor and down it. He tore through the xenomorphs as if they were tissue paper. He didn't know what was allowing him to remain under control, only that he didn't care; He felt invincible.

After tearing through multiple Drones and Warriors, Drag'lan came up behind a large sack-like organ. He was in the Queen's chambers, somehow behind the Queen. Without a second thought, he took a running leap at the wall, using it like a springboard to increase the height of his jump. He landed on the egg sack perfectly, and he sped across it. The sack was surprisingly durable, being able to withstand his weight and the force his steps were pushing into it with. He quickly hit the Queen's body and ran along her back, reaching her crested head just as rapidly as he had run along her egg sack. Without thinking, and despite her piercing screams of protest, Drag'lan grabbed a hold of the Queen's crest and jaw and violently twisted it. With a sickening _CRACK_, the Queen's neck was snapped. Drag'lan then ripped her head off of her now-lifeless body, causing her blood to spray all over the place. Some landed on his armor and skin, but the pain he felt was drowned out under the adrenaline that was pumping in his veins.

Drag'lan leaped off of the Queen's body and retreated down the corridor by which he had entered the egg chamber. He didn't have any resistance, but heard multiple screeches, but they seemed confused, but he didn't care; He just wanted to leave this place. He threw the Queen's head out of the tunnel entrance, then turned back to get Fral. He wasn't leaving her behind, not after all they had been through. He returned to the chamber where he had set her down, and picked her up, carrying her in his arms. While she looked rather bulky in his arms, he had no problem carrying her. As he exited the tunnel, he heard the sound of a yautja landing somewhere near. Without even thinking about it, he set Fral down and pulled out Physique and Ethereal; He wasn't about to have saved Fral just to lose her to another yautja.

"Show yourself." He said in yautjan, his voice having a low and growling tone to it. "I know you're out there somewhere."

"Wait, Drag'lan." A familiar voice said. "I'll reveal myself to you."

Drag'lan heard a yautja uncloak behind him and turned around. He saw Luar-Ke-Sain'ja standing there.

'Wouldn't have thought that we'd run into each other like this." Drag'lan said, sheathing Physique and Ethereal. He then walked back to Fral.

"I agree." He heard Luar say. "What brings you to this planet?"

"Well, originally, I wanted to make a tribute to my Marine family." Drag'lan said. "But then Fral and I heard a loud roar."

"I heard it too." Luar said. "Wouldn't have thought that you were the one to cause it to happen, though."

"Well, the first one, I didn't." Drag'lan said. "But the second and third ones I did."

"Anyway, what happened to your girlfriend?" Luar asked, seeing Fral in Drag's arms again.

"I don't know." Drag'lan said. "We were fighting the Khainde Amedha, and all of a sudden I heard her hit the floor. I got her to safety, then fought my way out."

"What about that…" Luar started to say, but her voice trialed off when she noticed that it was a Queen's head. "What? How did you slay a Queen Khainde Amedha?"

"Let's just say my rage was triggered. She didn't die well." Drag'lan said. "I snapped her neck and ripped her head from her shoulders."

"But why doesn't your armor have any damage done to it then?" Luar asked.

"It does, but the damage isn't showing, like the damage her acid did to me." Drag'lan said. "I went behind the forge master and covered my armor in a coating of a powerful basic to counteract the acid."

"Interesting tactic." Luar said.

"I know." Drag'lan said. "But both my father and the commanding officer of my Marine family had a saying. 'One of the best ways to survive is to be prepared for the worst.'"

"An understandable philosophy." Luar said. "But seriously, what happened to your girlfriend?"

"I don't know, as I said." Drag'lan replied. "But I do know something's wrong."

"Let's get her to my ship. I'll see what's wrong." Luar said.

Drag'lan shook his head.

"Sorry, Luar, but I gotta say no to that." He said. "It'll be better if you come to ours, as it's only about a five minute walk, provided that we keep a quick pace."

"Fine." Luar said. "Lead the way."

Drag'lan nodded towards the Queen Xeno's head.

"Would you mind carrying that back to our ship?" He said. "That's one trophy I won't pass up. Mostly for sentimental reasons."

Luar nodded.

"That I can." She said.

40 minutes later…

Drag'lan stood next to Luar in the ship's med-bay. She looked like she was finishing her inspection of Fral.

"Hmm." She said quietly. "I've never seen anything like this before."

"What?" Drag'lan asked. "What's wrong with her?"

"There was some neuro-toxin in, or on, that Khainde Amedha's tail." Luar said. "That's what caused her to faint."

"So she's just knocked out for the time being?" Drag'lan asked.

Luar nodded. This caused Drag'lan to breathe with ease.

"Any idea on when she'll wake up again?" He asked.

At this, Luar shook her head.

"Can't say that I do." She said. "But the only reason that is so is because I've never seen any toxin like this."

"Okay." Drag'lan said. "Thanks for the help."

"Not a problem." Luar said, turning to leave.

"What brought you to this planet, though?" Drag'lan asked; He really wanted someone to talk to at the moment, to keep his mind from dwelling on what could have happened.

"I was just hunting with a friend." Luar said over her shoulder; It was obvious that she wanted to leave. And Drag'lan wasn't about to try to stop her from doing so.

"Okay." Drag'lan said. "Well, I'll see you later, then."

"See ya." Luar said as she started walking away again.

_Well._ Drag'lan thought as Luar left. _I tried. Nothing else I could do._

Drag'lan then walked to the sparring room, as they'd taken Fral's ship. When he entered, his gaze followed Fral's trophy wall. It had grown slightly over their time together, and he just wanted to look around. One really caught his attention, however. As he got closer to examine it, he saw that it had twin sets of mandibles over a distinct lower jaw structure. It's head also had a slightly crest shape to it.

_What the hell?_ He thought. _What creature had this skull? Wasn't any kind of Xeno that I know._

He walked out of the room and back into the med-bay. Fral was still there, just as he had left her. He stroked her face lightly with his hand a couple of times before grasping her hand.

"I don't know if you can hear this, but I'm sorry." He said quietly. "I never wanted for this to happen to you. I'm sorry…so sorry."

Then he closed his eyes and started reciting his family's prayer.

"Let no warrior be without an enemy nor a reason for living." He said, reciting what his father and mother had taught him so long ago. "And let no wandering soul be without shelter, and no unfortunate soul be denied mercy and love."

Fral then coughed slightly, causing Drag'lan to do a double take.

"Drag…lan?" Fral asked, her voice very hoarse.

Drag'lan squeezed her hand a bit.

"I'm here." He said.

"I…heard your…voice." Fral managed to say. "Some…thing…made me…wake up…when I heard…it."

Drag'lan nodded.

"My mother said something about that once to me." He said. "It's an old belief among Regollen. It is said that if a pair of people are fully meant for each other, then there is a connection that extends beyond the physical world."

"And this...proves that belief?" Fral asked, her speech abilities greatly increasing as time passed.

Drag'lan nodded.

"It does." He said. "The only way for you to have known I was speaking at that point would be if that kind of connection existed."

Fral closed her eyes after hearing this.

"Is that all the evidence you need to know that we're meant to stay together?" She asked, her breathing getting faint.

"Yes, it is." Drag'lan said. "Sleep, Fral. Sleep and recuperate. You may be feeling a side-effect of the neuro-toxin that Khainde Amedha had in, or on, its tail."

With that, Fral fell asleep, as he knew she would. Without a second thought, he picked up Fral the same as when he was carrying her out of the hive. Then he carried her to their room on the ship. Ever since they had professed their love for each other, Drag'lan hadn't felt uncomfortable in her bed, with her normally embracing him. As he entered, he looked around. It wouldn't feel right if Fral had died from that toxin. He just didn't know what he would do if she had died, just like she felt if he died. After shaking his head, dismissing the thoughts, he set her down on the bed carefully.

He then walked back into the sparring room, seeing the Queen Xeno's head on a table in it. While he wasn't one to take trophies, this one was special, because it was an object of sentimental value, no matter what the other yautja thought; It showed what he and Fral had gone through from their love, and the price they paid. That much was clear to him when she drew the Regollen Xeno's attention.

_And finally, the actual lengths we will go to protect each other comes out._ He thought. _I already knew that I'd be willing to die if it meant her to remain living. I just wanted to know that she'd do the same._

As he looked over the head, a deep feeling of guilt fell on him.

"But what…" He started. "What if she HAD died there?"

His father's voice rang through his head, stern and forceful.

_Don't think like that._His father said. /IJust cherish the time both of you have together./I

"But if the worst comes to pass, what would I do?" Drag'lan said. "She's the only one that I really feel that can give me a good reason to live."

His father didn't respond.

With that, he cleaned off the head, and set it back down before walking to the cockpit and lifting off. He then programmed the nav-computer with the coordinates of Lai'Kairis before returning to the bedroom and laying down next to Fral. He couldn't help but brush the dreadlocks off of the left side of her face and kiss her on where he thought the cheek on a yautja would be before wrapping his arms around her midsection. He then put his head right next to hers.

"This much, I promise you, Fral." He said quietly, lovingly, into her ear. "If it's within my power, I'll never let something like that ever happen to you again."

He then laid his head down on the pillow. With everything that had happened that day, he wasn't surprised that he fell asleep instantly.


	26. Chapter 25

**Note to Readers: To this that have read my story up to this point, Drag'lan is going to be wiping out 4 members of the squad he used to be a part of, the Reapers. One is going to be a mercy kill, another is going to be impaled on his pauldron spikes. I'm looking for input on what to have Drag do to the other two, but keep in mind that this is Drag'lan doing it.**

Chapter 25 - Reliving the Horrors of the Past

Drag'lan sat in the cockpit of Fral's ship, deep in thought. It had been about an hour since he had gotten up. His sleep had been rather peaceful, and Fral hadn't moved when he got up, though his hands had traveled from being around her midsection to gripping her hips, more or less. They were still speeding back towards Lai'Kairis. However, before they arrived there, he had to have a talk with Fral concerning their relationship.

A few minutes later, He walked back into the bedroom. He saw Fral hadn't woken up, so he let her rest and walked to the armory. He looked around, and his gaze fell on the queen's head again. Without thinking, he walked to it and ran his hand across it. Instantly, he was whisked away to the start of his entire life of anguish.

He was about 33 in human years, but only 7 in Regollen years when it happened. He had just finished the training regimen of his father. He stood looking at the forest in awe, watching nature doing its work.

_So enraptured with it was he that he didn't sense his father walk up to him. His father placed his hand on Drag'lan's shoulder, causing Drag'lan to look at him._

_"Hey, dad." He said. "The forest seems awfully alive today, doesn't it?"_

_His father nodded._

_"It does, Drag'lan, it does." His father said. "But nice job on finishing my training."_

_"Thanks." Drag'lan said. "But with you as a father, nothing less would do."_

_"That's right." His father said. "But that doesn't mean that-"_

_"Oh, Drethlorgee, leave him alone." Drag'lan's mother said, cutting in. "You've put him through enough as it is."_

_"Alright, Lanorre." Dreathlorgee, Drag'lan's father, said, after turning around. "Wasn't like I was going to say anything negative, though."_

_Drag'lan turned around and saw his mother. She was about as tall as his father, but had a much slimmer build. She looked beautiful, no matter what anybody said. Here eyes were a deep purple, matching amethysts. Her golden brown hair was in a basic ponytail and reached to the middle of her back. Behind her were Drag'lan's siblings: His younger brother Grethgorge and his younger sisters that were twins Yorlashe and Treelinge. All three were rather young. Gethgorge about 10 years younger than Drag'lan, and the twins being about 5 years younger than that._

_"Let's just go to wherever it is you were taking us, Drethlorgee." Lanorre said. "I don't think the twins like this place."_

_"No, we don't." The twins said in unison, something they'd started to do. "This place gives us the creeps."_

_"Alright, then." Drethlorgee said. "Come on. Hey, Grethgorge. You wanna ride on my shoulders again?"_

_"No thanks." Grethgorge said. "Remember what happened last time?"_

_"Suit yourself." Drethlorgee said. "But anyway, let's go."_

_The group then started walking down the path. Once they reached their destination, the base of a gigantic tree, Drethlorgee told them that they had reached the spot. They unpacked what they had brought, a large picnic, and sat down before eating._

_Drag'lan was just starting to eat the meat sandwich his mother had given him when he heard something hiss above them. He looked about, confused._

_His father saw this and looked at him._

_"What's wrong?" He asked._

_"I just heard something hiss." Drag'lan said, not looking at his father. "Something's not right."_

Drag'lan was brought back into reality by somebody grabbing his shoulder. He looked over his own and saw Fral standing there.

"Hey, Fral." He said.

"Drag, what's wrong?" Fral asked.

"Nothing." He said.

"Bullshit." She replied. "I know when something's wrong. Tell me."

"I was just thinking about what happened when I was young." Drag'lan said.

"You mean when you lost your genetic family?" Fral asked.

"Yes." He said. "I was thinking about that time."

"Tell me about it." Fral said. "It will help your pain go away. Trust me, I know."

"Very well." Drag'lan said. "However, this is only because I trust you so much. Also, I don't want anybody aside from you knowing."

Fral nodded.

"I understand." She said.

"Okay." Drag'lan said.

After that, he explained everything to the point when she had broken his flashback.

"That's the stuff before you came in and got my attention." He said.

"Your father seemed like more of a family man than you made him out to be." Fral said.

Drag'lan shrugged.

"When he was training me, he was deathly serious." He said. "While he wasn't the whole 'Yes, sir!', 'No, sir!' type, he demanded respect and earned it."

"Interesting." Fral said. "And your mother seemed interesting, too."

"Yeah." Drag'lan said. "She's the one person that could tell my father to do something and get away with it. She also was the one that taught me how to be kind to those in need."

"So what happened after that?" Fral said.

"Well…" Drag'lan began.

_Drag'lan's father chuckled._

_"I didn't hear a thing." He said. "Might just be your imagination."_

_Before he could reply, Drag'lan heard multiple hisses sound through the forest. His father looked around at hearing this._

_"Okay." He said. "Now I know what you mean when you said something doesn't feel right."_

_Before anyone could take any action, a blur of black slammed into Drethlorgee, sending them tumbling away._

_"Lanorre, take the kids and run!" He said after they had stopped rolling. "I'll hold this thing off!"_

_Drag'lan's mother shook her head._

_"I'm not leaving-"_

_"DO IT!" Drethlorgee said. "I'll be with you when I kill this thing."_

_Then, a group of about 5 others fell into the clearing. Drethlorgee snapped the neck of the creature that had tackled him and charged at the group that had surrounded his mate and children./I_

_"Why would your father tell your mother to take you and run?" Fral asked._

_"He was one to sacrifice himself if it meant those close to him would survive." Drag'lan said. "But back to the story…"_

_IDrag'lan watched as one raised a long tail with a blade on the end and try to strike at him, but he grabbed onto it and pulled, whipping the creature over his head and into another. This stunned both of them just long enough for them to get tackled by his father. The final one decided to jump on Drethlorgee's back. BIG mistake on its part. Drethlorgee promptly reached over his shoulder, grabbed onto its head and flung it into the group of three creatures in a pile._

_He was preparing to trample them when another group, this time being about 6 in number, jumped into the clearing. Without warning, they all dove onto Drethlorgee at the same time, ripping apart his armor, then doing the same with the Regollen beneath. The sent Lanorre over the edge, and she went flying into the group, only to get ripped apart herself. Drag'lan tried to pull his siblings along, but one of them tackled him. As he struggled to keep its head away from his, he watched as his siblings fled into the forest, followed closely by the creatures. Their screams and yells echoed before getting abruptly stopped. Drag'lan then balled up his right hand into a fist and slammed it into the side of the creature's head, sending it sprawling. After standing up, he heard a deep voice echo in his head._

"Run…" The voice said. "Live to avenge your family."

_Following the voice's instructions, Drag'lan ran. He ran and he ran, never looking back, but hearing the creatures hiss as they sprinted behind him, trying to catch up._

As Drag'lan finished his story, he felt tears start to flow. He didn't try to stop them, but saw what had happened to his mother and father, as well as what might have happened to his siblings. The tears freely flowed down his face. He closed his eyes in remembrance.

Fral, upon seeing this, embraced Drag'lan in a hug. She put her head next to his.

"Don't worry." She whispered. "I'll make sure that you don't ever feel that kind of pain again."

"How can you promise something like that?" Drag'lan asked, sorrow still lacing his words. "And how do I know that you'll keep your word?"

"Simple." Fral said. "By saying the one sentence that will seal our connection as mates: I'm ready."

Drag'lan released his embrace and looked deeply into Fral's eyes. His eyes narrowed briefly, through the tears, which were dieing out.

"I can see that, Fral." He said, his voice returning to normal. "Now we just need to get the symbol engraved into our shoulders."

"First, my mother needs to accept you, though." Fral said. "My father has already consented to us being mates."

"I believe your siblings have already accepted me." Drag'lan said with a smile. "I daresay Ter has."

"I agree with that. Ter'thig looks up to you as an older brother." Fral said. "I would also say that Greth'ler sees you as something of a brother."

"He also sees me as something of a rival." Drag'lan said. "Though it seems like a friendly rivalry, if that makes any sense."

"To a point, it makes sense." Fral said with a nod. "He has seen what you can do when in combat, but he can't do anything that can compare, at least to my knowledge."

Drag'lan chuckled.

"There are few that can." He said. "People who have the adrenaline levels that I do, even when at their normal state, are rare."

"What do you mean?" Fral asked.

"Okay. Say you take human blood and test it to find how much adrenaline is in it when they're at peace." Drag'lan said.

"Alright." Fral said with a nod. "Go on."

"Well, with Regollen Brutes, increase that level by about 50 percent." Drag'lan said. "That's how much adrenaline is in a Regollen Brute's veins at normal times."

"I don't see how this connects." Fral said.

"I'm getting to that." Drag'lan said. "Now, with me specifically, take that level of adrenaline, and then increase it by another 20 percent, so at normal times, my adrenaline levels are 70 percent higher than that of a human."

"Wow." Fral said. "How does your body not burn itself out with that high of adrenaline levels?"

Drag'lan shrugged.

"I don't know. Nobody in my family understood it." He said. "But those levels made blood tests when I was in the Reapers very problematic."

"I can see that." Fral said with a laugh. "When you look like a normal human, it would be a shock to them when seeing that your blood has a 70 percent increase in adrenaline even when calm."

"Yeah." Drag'lan said. "But I really should do something right about now."

"Oh yeah?" Fral asked, her eyebrows raised. "And what would that be?"

"Lean forward a bit, and I'll show you," Drag'lan said, his voice level.

Fral did so, and the moment her head hit his level, he pushed his mouth in between her mandibles. He saw her eyes widen slightly when he did this, but then he heard as well as felt a purr vibrate from her face into his.

_I guess she likes what I'm doing._ He thought.

Again, he felt a tongue run its way across his lips. He opened his lips and the tongue entered his mouth, only this time, he was ready for it. His own tongue wrestled with it for control. This game went on for a minute before Fral pulled away. She giggled slightly.

"So that's what you wanted." She said.

"I'll call that payback for what you did to me the last time this happened." Drag'lan said. "But based on how you're tongue moved and everything, I'll bet you're feeling better."

Fral nodded.

"Much." She said. "Though where are we headed?"

"Back to Lai'Kairis." Drag'lan said. "Having said that, I should check on the cockpit, make sure that we're on course and everything."

Fral nodded.

"You do that." She said. "While you're checking on the computer, I'll go take a bath."

Drag'lan nodded and left, walking towards the cockpit. When he entered, he sat down and pulled up the navigation map. As he inspected it, he saw that the ship was perfectly on course. He sat back a bit before a sudden ping nearly made him fall out of the chair.

"What the-?" He said loudly.

He looked on the control panel and found that the radio receiver had picked up a signal. He activated the message. Though the message was slightly garbled with static, Drag'lan was able to piece together the message.

"Help. Stranded new-blood party. No way of getting off the planet. Pilot killed in crash caused by Oomans. Under attack from a special group of Oomans. Very organized, and very deadly. Need help."

Drag'lan cursed slightly at the words.

"What's wrong, Drag?" Fral's voice behind him asked.

When Drag'lan turned around, he was met with an eye-full; Fral was drying her dreadlocks, and her entire torso was showing. It was hard for him to keep a straight face.

"Picked up a signal." He said. He was struggling slightly to keep his voice level. "New-blood hunting party. They're stranded without a pilot, and are under attack by a group of marines."

"Where at?" Fral asked, still oblivious to her bare chest.

"Take a look." Drag'lan said, standing up and gesturing to the navigational computer.

Fral, without further adieu, started to sit down and then noticed her reflection. She blushed profusely and hastily covered herself up.

"Why didn't you say anything about my upper body being bare?" She asked.

"It would've seemed inappropriate." Drag'lan said. "Plus, with how you sleep, I figured you were okay with being naked around me.'

Fral blushed at this

"That's not the point." She said, though her tone said that she was flattered that he didn't care that she was naked around him in private. "The point is that you shouldn't let me walk around naked."

"Okay, okay." Drag'lan said. "But in any case, would you please look at the planet? Does it look familiar?"

Fral looked at the planet the signal originated from. She looked intently at the picture. After a minute, she finally nodded.

"It does." She said. "This is the planet that held my first hunt. The fact that this group ended up there means that they're most likely form Lai'Kairis."

"Okay." Drag'lan said. "Anything else?"

"Yes." Fral said with a nod. "The fact that the group got attacked by marines isn't surprising. They were starting a facility when I was there, about 3 years ago."

"Okay, so expect heavy resistance when we go planet-side." Drag'lan said out of sheer habit. That saying was a common one when he was in the Reapers.

Fral's response to this was to look at him with her eyebrows raised. Drag'lan caught the look and mentally cursed.

"Sorry." He said. "Pretty much, expect fights immediately after we land."

"Yes." Fral said, nodding. "But are you okay with killing marines?"

Drag'lan locked eyes with Fral at this.

"If I had a problem with killing marines, I wouldn't have killed so many on my first hunt." He said, his tone somewhat stern.

"That may be true, but then why didn't you kill that human, Adrian Fox?" Fral asked.

"It's complicated." Drag'lan said. "But it has to do with my marine family."

"Okay." Fral said.

"So, what's the plan when it comes to the new bloods?" Drag'lan asked.

"We go in, get them, get out and back to Lai'Kairis, and kill any marines that attack us." Fral said.

"Simple enough." Drag'lan said. "But if the squad mentioned in the signal is who I think they are, we're gonna have a bit more trouble than normal."

"Why would that be?" Fral asked.

"Let's just say that the squad is pretty much a mercenary group that is permanently hired out by the USCMC." Drag'lan said. "And they're highly specialized at taking out Khainde Amedha hives."

"You mean the Reapers?" Fral asked.

In response, Drag'lan just nodded.

"But you said that they were wiped out." Fral said.

"They've been rebuilt, then." Drag'lan said. "I remember Davis saying that his squad wasn't the first group of them. Apparently, the Reapers were over 20 years old as a group when I joined."

"So how do they choose when people join?" Fral asked.

"Normally, they pull in other mercenaries that have proved themselves, or pull soldiers out from different squads." Drag'lan said. "Then, the potentials are put through a VERY tough training regimen to weed out those that won't cut it."

"Interesting." Fral said. "But let's go save a group of new bloods."

"I couldn't agree more." Drag'lan said. "And let's just hope I'm wrong, even though we'll be able to handle them."


	27. Chapter 26

Chapter 26 - Reaping the Reapers

Drag'lan was sitting down in Fral's armory, sharpening his blades when he heard Fral enter. She had a basic shirt and shorts on, most likely to make her armor more comfortable. Drag'lan doubted that having that kind of armor on without clothes, even with their mesh, was very comfortable.

"How's the progress to the planet?" Drag'lan asked without looking at her.

"We're a few hours away. Maybe 6 at the most." Fral said. "But are you sure that you're okay with this?"

Drag'lan looked up at this and his eyes had a slight fire behind them.

"I've already said that I'm fine with doing this." He said, his voice showing annoyance. "I stand by that statement."

"Okay." Fral said gently. "Okay. I just really want to make sure."

Drag'lan looked into her eyes and saw a slight inkling of fear in them. That sight made him feel strong pangs of regret. The fire in his eyes died down a bit.

"Sorry about the tone I had, Fral." He said, his tone much more gentle now. "I just don't like people continuously questioning me on something that I deem as being finished."

"It's alright, Drag." Fral said.

Drag'lan stood up.

"I'll be in the bedroom if you need me." He said.

"Alright." Fral said.

Drag'lan then walked into the bedroom, his mind tense. He then sat down on the bed, and one of the missions the Reapers had taken part in came flooding back to him.

_He was sitting in the APC, waiting to be briefed. As he did, he looked at the new guy, a man by the name of Chris Micheals. The guy had proven himself worthy in the training, so Drag'lan was anxious to see what he could do._

_Just then, Davis walked in. He had a look of indifference on his face. Drag'lan was the first to catch it._

_"What's going on with this mission, Davis?" He asked._

_"We just got confirmation of the target location." Davis said. "It's had all non-combatants evacuated, so command has issued the green light. It's a torch-and-burn op, now."_

_"BOOYAH!" Drag'lan yelled, causing the others, aside from Chris, to laugh._

_"I expected you to say that, Drag." Davis said. "However, I got some bad news concerning this op for you as well."_

_"What is it, Davis?" Drag'lan asked._

_"The structure we're clearing is so close of quarters that your blades are gonna be un-usable." Davis said. "Your Pulse Rifle is still usable, but for the close-quarters fights, we gotta have you use a shotgun."_

_"Whatever." Drag'lan said. "I'm fine either way."_

_"Okay then." Davis said. "Chris, stick with John. He'll show you the ropes when it comes to being a Heavy in the Reapers."_

_"You got it." Chris said, nodding._

_~ 5 hours later ~  
><em>

_Drag'lan was walking down a hall past a door when McKenzie's voice came through the radio._

_"Drag." He said. "I got about eight different enemies behind the door on your left. Want me to clean it out?"_

_"Negative. Let me handle this." Drag'lan said. "You get any survivors through."_

_"Got it." McKenzie said. "Waiting for your go."_

_"Got it." Drag'lan said. "But you'll see what the signal is. Can't miss it."_

_"Oh, shit." McKenzie said. "Drag, what are you-"_

_McKenzie was cut off as Drag'lan brought is pulse rifle back and slammed the front of it straight through the wooden door, pulling the trigger on the grenade launcher. Almost the entire room exploded in shrapnel. One of the targets was blown clean out the window._

_Drag'lan heard two rapid shots go off before he opened the door. Three of the targets were shredded, and two had bullet holes in their heads, but the sixth wasn't anywhere to be seen. Then he heard the sickening crunch. Then McKenzie's voice came on the radio again._

_"Next time you're gonna do something like that, Drag," He said. "Warn me. That shit was LOUD!"_

_"I'll see what I can do, Dead Eye." Drag'lan said, using McKenzie's callsign. "No promises, however."_

_"I know that tone, Drag." McKenzie said. "We'll see what happens."_

_"That we will, Dead Eye, that we will." Drag'lan said._

_As he turned to leave, a burst of rounds came flying through the door, hammering into his armor and sending him onto his back and his pulse rifle flying. Within seconds, he had the shotgun Davis had given him out and fired a quick pair of shells into the person who had fired. The shots echoed loudly, resonating through the halls._

_"What's going on over there?" Davis's voice asked through the radio. "First that explosion goes off, then the loud blasts?"_

_"Shit is getting real, Davis." McKenzie said. "Drag's doing his thing."_

_"How many survivors this time?" Davis asked._

_"Technically, none." McKenzie said. "There were two survivors from the explosion, but I took em out. The pair of blasts shouldn't require explanation."_

_"Very well." Davis said. "Carry on."_

_"You got it." McKenzie said._

Fral approached Drag as he was re-living that flashback. Before she could attract his attention, he snapped back into reality and looked up at her.

"How far away from the planet?" He asked.

"Not too far." Fral said. "Maybe 40 minutes at the most."

Drag'lan nodded as he stood up.

"Okay, then." He said. "Let's get prepped to get work done."

Fral looked at him with an unfamiliar glint in her eyes.

"What kind of work you talking about?" She said, her tone somewhat seductive.

"Fral, focus." Drag'lan said, shaking his head in annoyance. "We're here to rescue a group of new bloods, not knock boots."

"You're no fun." Fral said. "Why should we wait to bed each other when we're mates?"

"We'll wait until I get the okay from your parents." Drag'lan said. "Even if they seem to be fine with it, it's better to know."

"Fine." Fral said with a pouting tone.

~ An hour later ~

Drag'lan and Fral were landing over a marine compound. He was already next to the exit, but She was making sure that the landing went smoothly. His mind was set on the task at hand: he was going to rescue the new-bloods on this world, and he would kill any and all marines that ended up getting in his path, Reaper or otherwise. He didn't know why, but his blood started to boil whenever he thought of how the Reapers could be just re-formed at a moment's notice.

The ship rumbled as it set down. After the rumbling stopped, he put on his helmet, which he had been holding. As it slid over his face, his gaze hardened, his mind set to do what must be done. He felt Fral's footfalls as she approached. As she drew near to the hatch, he turned to her.

"Let's do this." He said, unsheathing Ethereal and Physique.

Fral nodded, pulling her combi-stave out.

"Let's bring those new-bloods home." She said.

As the ramp lowered, Drag'lan saw a basic military compound. That was to be expected, as this planet seemed too far out of the area for colonization to require much more. The moment the ramp lowered completely, Drag'lan started walking down it. Fral closely followed him. After they set foot on the roof, the ramp raised, and Drag'lan saw that the ship was cloaked.

"Alright." He said to Fral. "Let's split up. We'll be harder to detect that way as well as getting this place scanned faster."

Fral nodded in response. The pair then split paths, Drag walking towards the entrance to the left of the ship, Fral taking the right one. The compound was eerily quiet as Drag'lan walked down the passage. It was as if the place had been deserted. Then, he heard gunfire, most of the sounds matching that of a standard-issue Pulse Rifle. Accompanied by the gunfire were screeches of Xenomorphs.

"Go fucking figure." He said to himself. "But what else should I have expected? Not like the yautja seeded this planet for a hive or anything."

As he approached the source of the noise, he heard shuffling in a room to his right. Without thinking, he walked into the room, only to see a marine, a female, limping along the wall. When she caught sight of him, she raised a TMP, but when she pulled the trigger, the gun clicked.

"God damn it." She said. "Wasted the clip on the Bugs. Well, then, kill me and get it over with. I'm already slated to die."

"What do you mean?" Drag'lan asked, causing her to jump.

"You can speak English?" She asked.

Drag'lan nodded.

"Well then, that puts everything into a better light." She said. "I'm already slated to die because one of those chestburster pieces of shit is worming its way through my esophagus as we speak."

Drag'lan's eyes widened behind his helmet.

"So, you don't care if you die?" Drag'lan asked.

"No, I don't." The female said.

"Then let me kill you to end your suffering." Drag'lan said.

"Do it." The female said.

"Before I do, what's your name?" Drag'lan said.

"Since it doesn't matter, my name's Alexandria Dorne." The female said.

With that, Drag'lan sheathed his swords and gripped her chin with his left hand and the back of her head with his right.

"Rest in peace, Alexandria Dorne." He said. "Your sacrifice brings honor to your family."

After saying this, he snapped her neck. As her body fell lifeless to the ground, Drag'lan pulled out his combat knife. He had to kill the chestburster before it revealed itself and his location. He flipped through vision modes in his helmet before hitting the mode where he could track xenomorphs. He found the chestburster; it was right behind her sternum, but with an accurate enough shot, he could stab in between the ribs and hit it with minimal damage to her internal organs. He prepared the knife just as it started to writhe in her esophagus.

"Oh no you don't, you little shit." He said. "You're not living."

With that, he stabbed, his aim true. He saw as the chestburster was cut in half by the knife. He then pulled the blade out, sheathed it and pulled her dog-tags off, hanging them on a bent piece of metal outside the doorway. With luck, the other Reapers would find her and giver her a proper burial.

As he continued down the hall, he heard more gunfire. Whoever was firing was giving the Khainde Amedha a tough time. As he turned the corner, a form crashed into him, stumbling back.

"What the-" The figure said before it seemed to recognize him. "YOU!"

Drag'lan looked at the figure for a few seconds before he recognized the voice; it was the chick from his first hunt. He saw her reaching for the pistol at her waist before starting to point it a him. He grabbed her wrist like a vice and pointed the gun up.

"Before you make the same mistake twice, I need to tell you something." He said in English.

"What do you have to tell me?" The female asked.

"One of your team is dead." Drag'lan said, retaining his strong grip on the female's wrist. "One Alexandria Dorne."

"And how the hell do you know that?" The female asked.

"Because I killed her." Drag'lan said. "She had a chestburster inside her and asked me to kill her. She's down the hall behind me. Just look for the dogtags."

"And I'm supposed to believe all this shit?" The female said, wrenching her arm from his grip. She then pointed the gun back at him.

"You want to see her body the hard way?" Drag'lan asked. "So be it."

With that, he grabbed her by the arm and threw her down the hall he had walked through. She crashed into the wall, but by the time she had recovered, he was gone, going down the hall; He didn't have time for this shit.

_It's her problem now if she wants me dead._ He thought. _She should've just taken what I said at face value._

Once he had calmed down slightly, he noticed that the gunfire had died out.

Then, a marine turned the corner in front of him. They were holding a smartgun, which started revving up immediately. Drag'lan started charging, already knowing what was going to happen. He lowered his right shoulder, showing the pauldrons blades. Then he heard the smartgun start spitting out its ammunition. Luckily, it didn't last long, as his shoulder hit the marine about five seconds after the smartgun started firing. He kept going, not seeing the marine bleed out within mere seconds of getting hit by his charge. When he hit a wall, he finally looked up. The marine just hung there limply, his smartgun missing, no doubt removed by some impact. Drag'lan quickly pushed the marine off his pauldrons, which was now stained red.

He turned away, and started walking down the next hall when Fral's voice came through his helmet.

"We got here too late, Drag." She said. "I just found about 4 different bodies of yautja, all bullet-riddled. Their equipment, specifically their masks and wrist-bracers are with me. I'll dispose of them outside."

"Got it. I'll meet you back at the ship." Drag'lan said. "Give me a few-"

Drag'lan was cut off by gunfire hitting his back, pinging off his great-swords and chest-piece. He turned around, unsheathing Physique and Ethereal as he did. His eyes fell upon another marine, this one clearly a sniper, but inexperienced, since they didn't go for a headshot.

They looked at him in clear terror as he approached, and turned to run, but Drag'lan wasn't having it. He pulled his arm up and _hurled_ Ethereal at them. Ethereal spun vertically through the air towards the marine, meeting them as they hit the end of the hall. It impaled them to the wall, something that Drag'lan didn't expect to happen. As Drag'lan approached the body to retrieve his sword, however, he saw yet another marine turn the corner, this one holding a flamethrower instead. Upon seeing him, the marine unleashed an inferno from their flamethrower, which clung to Drag'lan's armor, heating it up quickly. Drag'lan still kept advancing, despite the significant increase in heat inside the armor; He would have to tolerate the heat long enough to end this marine's life.

Once he got close, the inferno stopped. The marine dropped the flamethrower, which had apparently run out of fuel, pulling out their pistol and firing round after round at Drag'lan. Much to their dismay, the rounds simply bounced off his armor, and he picked them up by the neck with his right hand. By this time, the flames had died out on his armor, and it was rapidly cooling. He quickly threw them to the ground and pulled out Toxin, sheathing Physique as he did. The marine tried to scramble back to their feet, but Drag'lan brought Toxin down after spinning it a bit. It impaled them to the floor, their eyes rolled back as they bled out, dieing within seconds of being stabbed. He pulled Toxin out of the body before turning away from them and retrieving Ethereal. He then sheathed both of his swords and started walking back towards Fral's ship. He was done here; The Reapers just had a serious blow dealt to them after what he had done, plus there was no more reason to stay, as the new-bloods were dead.

On his way back, he heard Fral's voice in his helmet again.

"Drag, my last transmission was misinformed." She said. "I found a survivor, but they're in bad shape. I can't carry them, but if you can get to me, we can get them to Lai'Kairis. They need medical attention, QUICK."

"Where are you in the compound?" Drag'lan said.

"I'm in the B block, Hall 5," Fral said. "That's if I'm right, however. Paya damn the way Oomans make their buildings."

"I'll see when I get to that location." Drag'lan said, already moving. He was in A block, Hall 1, so he had a moderate distance to cover. Luckily, it wouldn't be long after they got Fral's ship going again until they would return home.

_I just hope that she doesn't try the same stun she did before we landed./I He thought as he was walking. IIf she doesn't, I'll have to start sleeping on the floor, probably in the trophy room. Can't let her get that idea yet. We need to have her parents' permission before we start going "all the way"._


	28. Chapter 27

**Note to readers: Sorry about the wait for this chapter. I had this done four days ago. Just remembered I had people who like my story here, not just DeviantArt lol.**

Chapter 27 - Encounter with Royalty

Drag stood in the living room of Fral's house, now her _and_ his. They had spoken with Fral's parents over them becoming mates at Drag's insistence.

_Fral's dad laughed._

_"You think we didn't already figure you two would become mates?" He asked._

_"I had my suspicions." Drag'lan said with a shrug. "But there was no way of knowing without you outright saying it."_

_"Oh, I was always for the idea." Fral's dad said. "I knew you two were meant for each other when we were going to that first family dinner. I was more worried about your mother, Fral'Drylx, but she surprised me."_

_Fral's mother nodded._

_"I know when a pair of souls are meant for each other." She said. "And I have no problem with your choice, Fral'Drylx."_

_"Thank you." Fral said, tears coming to her eyes. Tears of joy._

_"However." Fral's mother said, turning her attention towards Drag'lan. "If I find out that you've broken her heart or hurt her in any way, and you'll have to deal with me. Are we clear?"_

_"Crystal, ma'am." Drag'lan said. "But you don't have to worry about that. A Regollen never hurts their mate."_

_"Good." Fral's mother said. She extended her hand towards Drag'lan, who took it and shook without hesitation. "Welcome to the family."_

_"Thank you." Drag'lan said. "But let's go, Fral. I have a few gifts for you."_

_"Okay." Fral said. The pair then walked out of her parents' house._

_Man, what a surprise._ Drag'lan thought. _I thought one or both of them would be opposed to Fral and I becoming mates._

Fral then snuck up on him for the second time, draping her arms over his shoulders.

"You said you had a few gifts for me?" She said, with the same seductive tone she had had on her ship the previous day.

"Yes, I did." Drag'lan said, deeply breathing through his nose, taking in her scent. She smelled of some sweet flower, with a slight undertone of what reminded him of garlic. "Come on. They're at the forge. I wanted to keep them secret until the time was right."

With that, he placed a hand in hers and led her out into the streets, towards the forge.

"So, what did you make me?" Fral asked.

"Oh, just something that might help you out, should you get disarmed, like when we ran into Adrian Fox." Drag'lan said. "I just added a few things to them."

"Oh, really?" Fral asked. "Like what?"

"You'll see." Drag'lan said, savoring the suspense he was creating. "You'll see."

"I don't like being kept in the dark." Fral said. "You know I'll get even with you for this."

"No doubt." Drag'lan said. "But I think it's worth the cost to keep you in the dark for a bit longer."

30 minutes later

"Alright." Drag'lan said, setting his gifts on the table. "You can open 'em, Fral."

When she did, Drag'lan smiled sincerely at the tears that formed. On the table, three separate blades were laid out.

"Drag," She finally managed to say. "They're beautiful."

"I had Regollen runes engraved into the pair of blades facing away from each other." Drag'lan said. "The one that's on its own I had to ask the forge master for help translating into yautjan runes."

"But what do they say?" Fral asked.

"Well, this one." Drag'lan said, picking up one of the paired blades. "Says 'Compassion'."

"And the other?" Fral said. "What does it stand for?"

"Loyalty." Drag'lan said. "I felt they fitted your personality most."

"And what about that third blade?" She asked.

"This one was a bit tricky." Drag'lan said. "But it has a Regollen saying my mother taught me. The runes mean 'Love changes, hatred corrupts', or so Val'hariz tells me."

"That's what the symbols mean, roughly." Fral said. "Oh, Drag."

Before he could react, she had him in a hug and had her face over his, almost smothering him with her kiss. Luckily, he was somewhat ready for it, so he made it fun for her.

After their mouths parted, Drag'lan looked into her eyes.

"Fral, I love you." He said. "There's nothing that can change that. But let's go home."

"Okay." Fral said. She grabbed the blades and followed him out of the forge.

They weren't walking down the path long before something bad happened.

A yautja came out of an alley, right into Drag'lan's way and stopped.

Drag'lan tried to correct his movement to walk around them, but they got in his way again.

"What's your problem?" He asked.

"I am here on behalf of the clan that Leir'gorl came from." The yautja said. "You killed my brother."

"Look, I'm sorry about the fight." Drag'lan said. "But that was months ago. You need to let things go."

"Easy for you to say." The yautja said, rage resonating in their voice. "You didn't watch someone beat your brother to death."

"Still, would your brother want you trying to kill the person who had no control over their actions when they killed him?" Drag'lan asked.

"Drag? What's going on?" Fral asked, turning around to see that Drag'lan wasn't there. Then she saw the yautja in the way.

"Who is that? Your mate?" The yautja asked.

"What does it matter to you?" Drag'lan asked.

"She's sickening if she's choosing to be mates with an under-developed weakling like yourself." The yautja said.

Drag'lan stiffened and his fists clenched.

"What did you just say about her?" He asked, anger almost ringing in his voice.

"You heard me." The yautja said. "She's a disgrace to the name of the yautja if she's deciding to be mates with Isomething/I as weak as you."

Drag'lan's eyes started to pulse black rapidly. He was about to snap, and he knew it. He retained his grip on the rage as best he could.

"Look." Drag'lan said. "Leave Fral out of it. If this is all about your brother, then there's no need for you to target a third party."

"Oh, I hate all that don't do the yautja name justice. I hate the two Omega Yautja here just as much as I hate you and your bitch of a mate." The yautja said.

That was all it took for Drag'lan; He wasn't about to let this son of a bitch get away with insulting those that he cared for or others that probably fought with honor. He was almost a blur as he moved towards the yautja, who just barely managed to dodge his haymaker blow in time. However, they didn't expect Drag'lan to kick them in the stomach, sending them back, doubled over, wheezing.

"What the?" The yautja rasped in disbelief. "How can you…Never mind. You're dead."

"I don't think so." Drag'lan said. "You insulted my girlfriend and you belittled me. I don't stand for that bullshit."

"You're still weak." The yautja said.

"Am I?" Drag'lan asked. "I'm not the one that won't let the past be the past. Your brother was a bad-blood. He deserved to die."

"You think I don't know he was a bad-blood?" The yautja asked, extending two sets of wrist-blades. The blades glowed a sickly green.

Drag'lan's eyes widened, becoming enraged further at this action.

"YOU'RE DEAD!" The yautja yelled as they charged.

"COME ON!" Drag'lan roared back, charging as well.

Drag'lan's speed greatly outmatched that of the yautja's, so as they were starting to swing their blades, Drag's hand was already clasped around their throat and in he was already throwing them down the alley they came from. There was so much force behind the throw that they were hurled into the next street. He followed them, intent on finishing what they started. As he said to those that started shit with him while he was with the Reapers, "If you start shit with me, you better have the balls to finish it.". And this one was about to learn that, the hard way.

As Drag'lan emerged from the alley, the yautja was starting to recover, but Drag'lan wasn't about to let that happen; The yautja had dug its grave, so he was going to send it there.

"Oh no you don't." Drag'lan said, oblivious to anyone that might be watching. "You made a big mistake in angering me, and now you're paying the price."

With another loud roar, he tackled the yautja, pinning it to the floor. He then proceeded to hammer at their neck, chest and head with blow after blow. He never heard the blows land, just kept swinging. Then he started hearing the sickening Icracks/I from some of his blows to the yautja. It took those sounds to cause him to stand up, breathing deeply. The yautja's head was severely deformed as well as bent in an un-natural angle. On the right side of their ribcage, there was a large depression.

As he started to walk away, he heard a voice.

"See? That's the person I met when I was hunting down the dishonored a month ago." The voice said. The words made Drag'lan turn around, knowing the tone.

When he did turn around, he saw S'loss, as well as another yautja, this one even bigger than S'loss, coming in at around 10'6" if Drag'lan were to take a guess. As he approached them, he looked at S'loss.

"Why is it that whenever I'm either fighting or just got out of a fight, we run into each other?" He asked.

S'loss shrugged.

"I don't know." He said.

"It's a surprise you were able to defeat that yautja through hand-to-hand combat." THe other yautja said.

"And who are you?" Drag'lan asked them. His voice held a tone of "Who the hell are you?" in it.

"My name is Zel'no'di." They said. "And I'm the leader of a yautja clan."

Drag'lan bowed in respect.

"My apologies, then." He said. "I didn't know you were the leader of a clan."

"Well, to be more specific." Zel'no'di said. "I am actually the King of all the yautja clans, but I just stay out of each clan's business, unless problems arise between two clans."

"That's certainly changes things." Drag'lan said, bowing again. "Never met someone of that stature."

"You have a clear sense of humility." Zel'no'di said. "That is something a lot of yautja lack."

"Comes from the experiences I've had with my father." Drag'lan said. "However good I am now, I could never be as good as he is. If one doesn't know their place in the order of things, they won't survive."

"Wisely stated." Zel'no'di said. "However, why did you attack that yautja?"

"Well, first, he insulted my strength and worth." Drag'lan said, hatred beginning to creep into his voice. "Then he decided to insult my mate, and two other yautja, which he called the 'Omega' yautja."

"Well, do you believe he deserved the assault you subjected him to?" Zel'no'di asked.

"Yes." Drag'lan said solidly. "When you insult my worth, the worth of my mate, that of other yautja, then fight with underhanded tactics, you deserve to die."

"Well, what do you define as underhanded tactics?" Zel'no'di asked.

"Well, for one, poison." Drag'lan said. "Then in my eyes, stealth. After that, using weapons that out-match those of your opponents'; If they're unarmed, you should be fighting unarmed as well."

"Wait." Zel'no'di said. "They used poison?"

"I'm willing to bet." Drag'lan said. "I doubt that their wrist blades would glow a sickly green otherwise."

"That can only mean they were one thing." Zel'no'di said. "They were a-"

"Bad-blood?" Drag'lan asked, finishing Zel'no'di's sentence. "Yeah. They were a sibling of another bad-blood I killed. They came after me out of revenge."

"So you killed a bad-blood using only your fists." Zel'no'di said. "That even more impressive. S'loss already told me about the six you took down.""I'm surprised." Dra'glan said. "How do you know S'loss?"

"His clan guards mine." Zel'no'di said. "My clan is the royal family, and we're a small clan, so we rely on S'loss's strength to protect us."

"Well, on a different topic." Drag'lan said. "What are the 'Omega' Yautja? A bad-blood called S'loss one, then the yautja I just killed said there were two on Lai'Kairis."

"The Omega Yautja are a rather complicated bunch." Zel'no'di said. "However, the best description I can give of them are Yautjan super-soldiers, to use the ooman term."

"Interesting." Drag'lan said. "And if I'm not mistaken, you're one as well."

"You're quite correct." Zel'no'di said. "I am an Omega Yautja. But how did you gain the strength you have? S'loss and I got a lot of ours from the training we undertook, as well as genetics."

"Same." Drag'lan said. "The difference between your training and mine is that almost all of my training has been through fighting for my life."

"Training in the field is the best tactic." Zel'no'di said. "It makes you perfect tactics quickly."

"Agreed." Drag'lan said. "We're not so different in mentality. I think our major difference is what we will stand for when it comes to tactics."

"Yes." Zel'no'di said. "Form what I heard from S'loss, you aren't too fond of the idea of stealth."

"Nope. I abhor the idea of stealth, unless there is no other choice." Drag'lan said. "I'm a warrior, not a hunter. I either fight my enemy face-to-face, or I don't fight them at all."

"What if the enemy is stronger than you are?" Zel'no'di said.

"I adapt my tactics to survive." Drag'lan said. "In nature, those that can't adapt die. It's what keeps me alive and gives me the training I need to remain living."

"Interesting." Zel'no'di said. "You have a wisdom so many lack. Many would say to retreat when facing an opponent that's stronger than them."

"The true warrior never retreats." Drag'lan said. "I will fight with all my heart, even unto my dieing breath. That is what leads me to an honorable death."

"Very wise words." Zel'no'di said. "Truly, you are one interesting person."

"Zel'no'di." S'loss said. "Remember, we're here on business."

"Ahh yes." Zel'no'di said. "My apologies…?"

"Drag'lan." Drag'lan said.

"My apologies, Drag'lan." Zel'no'di said. "But S'loss is right; we're here on business. Hopefully we will meet again."

Drag'lan nodded.

"Yes, hopefully we will." He said. "May your ancestors watch over you."

"And yours as well." Zel'no'di said, leaving with S'loss.

Drag'lan watched as the pair walked away.

_Those two are a rather interesting bunch._ He thought. _I wouldn't relish being their enemies. But anyway, I need to find Fral again._

Then he heard someone else approaching, this time from the alleyway he had thrown the bad-blood. He turned around to see Fral. Her eyes were wide at the sight of him, and he wasn't sure why. Then he finally tasted the blood in his mouth. It wasn't his, so he spit, releasing a small amount of fluorescent green. He started wiping his face before she hugged him tightly.

"Drag, what happened?" She asked. "When I saw you charge that yautja, I thought they were going to kill you."

"Fral, you know me better than that." Drag'lan said, stroking her back. "But to answer your question. That yautja wanted to kill me, something that I've gotten used to."

"But why did you go berserk on them, then?" Fral asked.

"They insulted, you, me and two other yautja." Drag'lan said. "Then they proved to be a bad-blood."

"Let's just go home." Fral said. "I don't want to stay out here after this. Plus, you can tell me the entire story on the way."

"Yes." Drag'lan said. "Let's go home. I also need to clean up."


	29. Chapter 28

**This is the start to a crossover with a couple friends on of mine: Drakhand006 and Zelnodi. Also, apologies on how long it took to upload this. I honestly forgot about it.  
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Chapter 28: Juggernaut Trio

Drag'lan had just gotten out of the shower when the communicator went off. Fral was the one that answered. She listened for a bit before she noticed that he was there.

"Drag, it's for you." She said. "It's Elder Kal'deris, and he said he need to talk to you."

Drag'lan walked over to the communicator as Fral moved aside.

"Yes?" He asked.

"Drag'lan, we have had a call for one of our best fighters, and it ended up being a tough call between you and Alaric." Kal'deris said. "But since we don't know where Alaric is, we decided that you'd be the best bet for this call."

"Okay." Drag'lan said. "But who put out the call, and what am I supposed to do?"

"King Zel'no'di put out the call. We don't know what the call is for, only that he wanted one of our best fighters." Kal'deris said. "We're transmitting the coordinates that he wanted to meet with our choice at to your ship's computer."

"Got it." Drag'lan said. "Thank you."

Kal'deris ended the call. Drag'lan turned to Fral, confusion evident in his eyes.

"What?" Fral asked. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong, Fral." Drag said, shaking his head slightly. "But I was just called out for some sort of mission."

"Mission?" Fral asked. "Like what you did when you were part of the Reapers?"

"Exactly like that. Only I was one of two that were chosen for this." Drag'lan said. "It was a choice between me and Alaric. You remember him, right?"

"How could I forget that?" Fral said. "He was the guy you blind-sided."

"Yep. But since the elders don't know where he is, they called for me." Drag'lan said. "Apparently, the king of the yautja needs help with something."

"Did Kal'deris say what they needed help with?" Fral asked.

Drag'lan shook his head.

"He didn't." He said. "But I gotta ask you to stay here for this one, Fral. Kal'deris said that the call was for one of this clan's best fighters."

"Alright." Fral said. "But only because it's you asking."

"I'll come home, Fral." Drag'lan said, embracing her. "I always do."

"I know you will, Drag." Fral said, resting her head on his shoulder. "But that doesn't stop me from worrying about you."

Drag'lan took a step back before he gently lifted her head to make her look in his eyes.

"Fral, I promise that I will return." Drag'lan said. "And I always keep my promises. A promise not kept is the road to exile, Fral."

"Okay." Fral said. "But please try to be careful. I love you."

"I love you, too, Fral." Drag'lan said, bringing his lips up between her mandibles. They shared a deep and long kiss before Drag'lan pulled away, his eyes full of warmth for Fral.

"Well, I'm gonna go, Fral." He said. "I'll see you when I get back."

"Okay." Fral said. "I'll look into going on a hunt or two while you're gone."

"I can live with that." Drag'lan said. "Just keep yourself alive."

"I will." Fral said. "And the same to you."

With that, Drag'lan turned and left, knowing full well that whatever had S'loss and Zel'no'di asking for another fighter was very serious, because those two looked nearly unstoppable. He made his way to his ship, walked into his armory and stored his weapons on the custom rack he had made himself before making his way to the cockpit. He took off and programmed the computer with the coordinates Kal'deris sent him before going to his training room to start keeping in shape.

2 days later

Drag'lan was sitting in his cockpit, approaching the planet he was to meet S'loss and Zel'no'di at. His computer registered a single Yautja ship in orbit. As he approached the planet, it sent a message asking for him to board. The voice matched that of S'loss, so Drag'lan pulled up alongside the ship and it attached to his before he donned his armor and walked aboard their ship.

"They said that there were two candidates for this call." Zel'no'di's voice said to greet him. 'I should've known that one of them was you."

"Well, with my track record, I didn't expect the elders to think that I would be a good choice for this." Drag'lan said with a bow to Zel'no'di. "I'm almost prone to violence."

"I can understand your feelings towards you being chosen." Zel'no'di said. "But your skill in combat is unquestionable."

"Thank you." Drag'lan said. "But why are we here?"

"It came to our attention that some Oomans are researching Abominations." S'loss said, speaking up for once. "And to make that situation worse, they've been making an alarmingly large amount of our ships disappear."

"So, what's the plan?" Drag'lan asked, his face neutral, but his tone showing that he was greatly interested.

"We're going to infiltrate the compound." Zel'no'di said. "Now that you're here, you'll be our distraction, because of your looks on stealth. You'll go in from one of the major entrances. Hopefully, the marines will be distracted enough for us to get in and help you break through."

Drag'lan shrugged.

"Well, that's what I normally do anyway, so there's not much of a change." He said. "Charging in, that is. Are there any others we need to wait on?"

Both Zel'no'di and S'loss shook their heads at this.

"Nobody aside from the Lai'Kairis clan answered our call." Zel'no'di said. "So it's gonna just be us three."

"Good." Drag'lan said. "I work better in small groups, three to five at most."

"I can tell." Zel'no'di said. "From what S'loss said, you're a lone wolf."

Drag'lan nodded.

"That I am." He said. "But when is this little operation starting?"

"I'd say wait for cover of nightfall." S'loss said. "It'll give us more cover, as there will be less light to spot us."

"Maybe, but there will also be searchlights on." Drag'lan said. "Searchlights tend to be more focused than sunlight. And they make sweeps, so they'll probably spot you earlier. Maybe we should hit them within a few hours."

"Well, we need to come to an agreement on when to strike." S'loss said.

"Agreed." Zel'no'di said. "Either way it poses a risk."

"That is true, but if we wait until dark, I won't be needed as a distraction. I can't see in the dark, and my vision modes are limited by design." Drag'lan said. "If we do it while it's still light, I can pull a much more effective diversion off."

"Okay." Zel'no'di said. "We'll start everything in three hours. Once S'loss and I get in, we'll assist you if you need it."

"Whatever." Drag'lan said with a shrug. "Knowing me, I won't need much in the way of assistance, but I'll take whatever help I can get."

"Good." Zel'no'di said. "I'll give you the location of the base on the planet and where you'll attack from."

"Okay." Drag'lan said with a nod and a slight bow. "I'll be on my ship preparing."

With that, he left to his ship, more to work out and get something to eat than to prepare. The only preparation he had to do was sharpen his blades.

Two and a half hours later…

Drag'lan was leaned against the trunk of a large tree, looking towards the location he was supposed to be attacking soon. It was the south entrance to the compound, which was set in a mountain. The base was very defensible, something Drag'lan had to give them credit for. He saw multiple searchlights and a couple sniper towers, but didn't think they'd be able to do much to him once he started causing the carnage.

He looked over the approach he would have to make: Uneven terrain, coupled with a slight uphill run. Not the best of circumstances he has had, but not the worst. He looked up and estimated that he had about 15 minutes before he had to charge in. Just to make sure, though, he contacted Zel'no'di.

"So, We starting everything in about 15 minutes, right?" He asked. "I'll move in now if you're ready to go, though."

"Go ahead." He heard Zel'no'di's voice reply. "S'loss and I are in position. Create as a big a distraction as you can."

"Got it." Drag'lan said before ending the connection. "Alright, game time."

With that, he activated his plasma caster and took aim at a spot-light. He fully charged the plasma caster before firing it, sending a blazing blue bolt of plasma into the light, blowing it clean off. This got most of the guards' attention, and Drag'lan dropped from the tree before starting to charge at the wide open gate. The fact that the gate was open surprised him, but then he saw the troops coming out of it, and everything started to make sense; they had tracked the path of his plasma bolt and sent a ten-man squad to check it out.

He drew Toxin and Regoll before adjusting his course to intercept them. As they were moving out, he noticed that they seemed inexperienced. He decided to use that to his advantage and charged at them from the side. The first four of the ten didn't know what hit them.

His swords crashed into their sides and cut them in half. However, he kept going and swung both swords at different targets, decapitating them. That's when the rest of the squad got their bearings. Most had standard-issue pulse rifles, and the rounds they fired just kept bouncing off of Drag'lan's armor. He turned towards one, his helmet's eye-covers reflecting his gaze, and the man ran. The others followed suit, and Drag'lan pursued them.

The poor unfortunate souls didn't make it very far when Drag'lan caught up with them. He swords were swung a total of three times each, and after everything was said and done, the last six soldiers were on the ground, dead. Two were beheaded, two had their intestines spilled out, and the last pair ended up getting cut in half. Then Drag'lan shifted his attention back to the entrance and started charging towards it. As he approached it, he heard as well as felt the ground tremble suddenly.

As he neared the gate, he saw a familiar shape inside the compound, and he dove to the side just to see two lines of bullets trace their way along the ground towards where he had dove to. He quickly regained his footing and ran towards the wall, watching the Exosuit shooting up where he had been. He saw it walk out of the compound and start swiveling from side to side, searching for him. He quickly slid behind it and targeted its hip joint with his plasma caster before firing. The bolt slammed into the joint and caused the entire suit to careen to it's left side. As it fell, he heard echoing footsteps behind him. Knowing that the Exosuit wasn't going to bother him any more, he charged at the soldiers that were coming towards him. One of them pulled out a rocket launcher and fired at him.

Without even batting an eye, Drag'lan rolled to the side, evading the rocket. Then he saw another pull out a smartgun, targeting him. He looked directly at them and his plasma caster revved up, firing within seconds and blowing the smart gunner's head clean off. The others fired their guns at him, but most of the rounds harmlessly bounced of his chest-piece. There were thirteen in all remaining, and Drag'lan charged straight into them, flourishing his blades as he did.

Once the dust settled, Drag'lan's armor was coated in blood. The blood was still rolling down his armor, from his pauldrons all the way down to his greaves. He was standing in a large pool of blood, and his swords were all but painted red, the blood dripping off of them, adding to the rapidly expanding pool. It was a wonder that the glow of the runes on his blades shined at all, but a grey glow managed to show itself through the blood.

As he started to walk towards the main building, a single shot was heard before a strong force impacted with his armor. He was thrown on his ass, a sniper rifle round embedding itself into his armor, right next to his father's birth rune. He sprang back to his feet and looked at the sniper, but before his plasma caster could rev up again, he saw a bolt of red collide with the poor bastard, and then saw Zel'no'di and S'loss enter the compound. They both gazed at him and saw what he had done to the marines.

"Impressive." Zel'no'di said..

Drag'lan just nodded before he started walking towards the entrance to the base interior.


	30. Chapter 29

**Author's note: To those that are following this, this was added a while after I had added the chapter to deviantart. Sorry about the late update. I had just not used this site in so long that I forgot about it.**

Chapter 29 – P.O.H.

Drag'lan was walking down the hallway of the laboratory, his short-swords out, on account of the limited quarters. He had long grown accustomed to the alarm that was blaring. He was also on his own, but that was what he had asked from S'loss and Zel'no'di.

_"While I'm in there, please just leave me be." He had said. "I work best when I'm alone, so that there's no chance of either of you getting hit by a stray swing."_

_"Understandable." Zel'no'di said as S'loss nodded in understanding. "We'll try our best to do that."_

And so far his incursion hadn't yielded anything TOTALLY concrete. The most he had seen was Xenos strapped in cells. Once he had walked in, he was assaulted by a scientist who had a handgun. After the first round bounced off his armor, Drag'lan walked up to the woman and simply stabbed her in the midsection before twisting the blade, ending her life quicker. After doing that, he simply just ended the Xenos and left.

As he walked down the hallway, he kept his senses sharp and prepped for anything.

Without warning, a scientist started to come out of a passage ahead. However, a clawed hand of a xenomorph grabbed his arm. He screamed as he was pulled back into the room. The screams were cut off quickly afterwards. The xenomorph then came out of the room, blood running down its chin before it looked at Drag'lan and hissed.

"Well, come on, then." Drag'lan said as he held his swords out to the side, taunting the xenomorph.

The xenomorph dashed at him, but as he raised an arm to bring a short sword down on it, it shifted its trajectory and spear tackled him. The moment he hit the ground, his swords left his grasp, and it was all over him. Its claws raked and gouged his armor, all while its tail was trying to stab him in the head. As he was fighting, he never noticed that the alarm had ended.

Drag'lan grunted as its assault continued, grabbing its jaw to keep its second mouth from extending with one hand. His other hand was pinned to his side, and as bad luck would have it, the hand pinned had Honorbringer in the bracer. His head also kept moving to avoid the tail as it stabbed into the ground, intent on impaling his head.

"Fuck this." He said as he brought his head up as its tail raised again, and he violently head-butted it.

While the impact wasn't enough to truly injure it, the shock brought its assault to a stop, at least for the time being. This allowed him to bring his arm out from under it and slammed his fist into the side of its head, making it roll over, so he was on top now.

"You're time is up, bug." He said as he extended Honorbringer and stabbed it squarely in the dome of its head. Blood started to pool around the blade, and Drag pulled the blade out to keep his hand from burning.

As he got off it, he got tackled from behind. Only this time, the moment he hit the ground, he heard a voice.

"I got a Pred over here!" The voice said.

"Good. Should work well for a new test subject." Another voice said, this voice being more sinister.

"The hell I am." Drag'lan said in English, clearly shocking the one holding him down.

"The hell?!" The voice said as Drag'lan rose up.

"Big mistake, you idiots." He said.

"SHOOT HIM!" the scientist yelled.

Drag'lan felt multiple rounds impact his back, most hitting and embedding in his swords. As he turned around, the rounds bounced off his armor.

"My turn." He said as he charged at one of the marines.

The moment he got in front of the marine, he kneed them in the stomach, stabbing the blades of his sabatons into them. As they spit out blood, Drag'lan pulled the blades out and they started to fall forward. He then helped them by slamming their chest onto the spikes as well before slamming their face onto the spikes for a final strike.

As he pulled them off, pandemonium struck. The marines tried to run, but Drag'lan grabbed one by the shoulder, spinning him around and impaling him on Honorbringer. Their eyes rolled back as the blood seeped over the blade, staining it and his arm red.

He hadn't gotten the marine off his blade for two seconds before another one tackled him, and another piling onto him. Then a third shot something at him, causing a slight pain on his right upper arm. He rose up, throwing the two marines off of him before he pulled what looked like a dart out of his arm and returned to the slaughter.

His first victim was stabbed clean through the gut with Honorbringer as Drag'lan pulled out Ethereal. It flashed once and a man's head was sent rolling.

It was only after he had taken out three more soldiers before the effects of the dart kicked in. He shook his head, holding them off for a few seconds, but they were getting much stronger; the room started spinning before he fell forward and his vision became darkness.

Unknown amount of time later

Drag'lan was just coming around to consciousness. His view was met by bright gray.

"Ahh, you're up." A voice said, the source of which seemed to be a PA system. "Good. A conscious subject gives blood faster."

Drag'lan tried to talk, but it turned out his mouth was gagged, and he was bound in some form of holding cage.

"We've run some tests on your blood these last few days." The voice said. "And your levels of adrenaline are quite…..Iinteresting/I."

_You're damn right they're interesting._ Drag'lan thought.

"We haven't been able to duplicate the exact nature quite yet, but we have enough to keep at it for a while." The voice continued on its monologue. "But we HAVE managed to duplicate enough of it to allow us to make a rather nice chemical cocktail for our forces."

_WHAT?!_ Drag'lan thought in shock. _They've WHAT?!_

"The first batch should be distributed to our forces within a couple days." The voice said. "But until then, I think we'll stock up on blood."

_Not if I have anything to say with it._ Drag'lan thought.

"Oh, and by the way." The voice said. "I must commend you on your strength. We barely managed to get those blades of yours on the table."

Once he heard that, his anger broke. His eyes rapidly turned into the trademark jet-black orbs as he started to strain against his shackles.

"I don't think you'll be able to-"

Drag'lan broke free of his shackles with a muffled roar, clearly to the shock of the person the voice belonged to.

"HE'S FREE!" The voice said. "GAS HIM!"

Drag'lan then got a look around the room as he was removing his gag. It was a rather basic room, with just one observation window. With a roar, he charged at it, slamming into it and causing a crack to form.

That didn't stop him, though. He slammed his fists into it repeatedly, making the crack into a large web of cracks. The gas just started to get to him before he pulled back and charged at it, this time throwing his whole body at it, breaking through and escaping the gas as it seeped through the hole he made. He then noticed he had a basic t-shirt and plain white pants on as well.

As he was looking around the hallway he exited into, the alarm started blaring.

"The subject is loose!" a voice said over the intercom. "Capture him at all costs."

"Yeah, not on your life." Drag'lan said as he started making his way through the hallways.

As he made it to the first junction, he saw a security guard extend a baton that sparked before the guard charged at him.

"Huh." Drag'lan said. "Looks like I got my new temporary melee weapon, aside from my bare hands."

As the guard started to swing the baton, Drag'lan grabbed his wrist and brought his other fist into their gut, winding them. He then grabbed them by the arm and threw them into the wall, stunning them for him to slam his fist into their neck, ending their life.

"I'll be taking this." He said as he took the baton and swung it once to get a feel for how it worked. "Not a bad weapon. But now to get my gear fully."

Drag'lan started moving again, and he heard footsteps and entered the first door he came across. As they passed, he got a look at the soldiers. They had bull-pup variants of pulse rifles, but they each had body armor that would make hand-to-hand combat difficult. As the last one was passing by, he grabbed them and pulled them into the room, muffling their screams as he brought the baton to their neck, knocking them out.

He then went to searching through their pockets, finding a handgun and a PDA. As he searched over the PDA, since the soldier was stupid enough to not have any protection against unauthorized access. As he scanned through it, he found a layout for the lab, level by level.

"Bingo." Drag'lan said quietly. "Now, to find where my blades went…"

As he searched through the layout, he found MANY interesting things, one of which labs containing genetic testing.

"Hmmmm." He said to himself. "Might wanna clear this place out fully. Scorched-earth policy, to make sure the research is gone."

He then slung the pulse rifle across his back and made his way back into the hall, remembering the path to the nearest lab.

"Right to the nearest cross-section, take a left, take that until the second door on the left." He muttered.

He then started making his way down the halls, dodging soldiers as he went. One time, he had IJUST/I avoided them because he caught their footfalls at the last second, diving into an open door.

_That was TOO close_ He thought as they passed.

The moment they had fully left, he moved back out, and continued on his way.

When he entered the lab, he was met with a relieving sight, his greatswords, harness, and short-sword. The scientists, for the most part, were too busy analyzing the swords.

"What have you found?" One of them asked a co-worker.

"Only that they're heavier than they look." The other scientist said. "It took three of us to lift that bad boy up."

"I kno- WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" The first scientist said, as they noticed Drag'lan standing there.

"Taking my weapons back." He replied simply as he charged, wielding the stun baton.

"HIT THE-" The scientist began before the stun baton slammed into his chest, knocking him out.

Drag'lan then set to work knocking the others out, one by one.

"There we go. Now that that is done…" He said as he looked around, looking for any unexpected enemies "It's time to get geared up. Too bad they took my armor, but that's not much in comparison to the blades.

He then slipped into his harness and put his blades in their rightful places.

"Now to just find some armor." He said before heading out the door of the lab.

The moment he stepped out into the hall, the ground shook, making him reel.

"ALERT! ALERT! Specimens 16-30 have been released. Response teams, stay alert." A computer voice said.

"Well, this IS a lab, I guess." Drag'lan said. "Can't expect to be the only project they have going."

He then started moving out. His first encounter with a group of soldiers was brief, as he caught them fully unprepared. Within seconds, they had been slaughtered.

_They REALLY need to look into training these people better._ He thought as he moved on, his clothes now soaked in blood.

As he passed one of the labs, a glimmer caught his eye. Thinking it was his old armor, he entered the lab. When he had a clear view on what was in the lab, he was very disappointed.

There was a suit of armor, clearly experimental, on a rack, with large trails of blood leading into other rooms.

"Well, I can't be picky when it comes to surviving." Drag'lan said. "I just hope I can wear this armor comfortably".

He was insanely lucky that it was adjustable, because he was able to put it on without any problems. It even was able to hold his harness.

"Thank god." He said in relief as he put his harness over the top of the armor.

The moment he stepped into the hall, gunfire peppered him, but the rounds harmlessly bounced off of the armor.

_Damn._ He thought. _This stuff is POWERFUL._

The moment he drew his short-swords, however, a weapon swung that wasn't of his nor the marines' he would've been facing. Blood splattered the walls as the heads of two marines virtually exploded.

Drag'lan turned to see a rather horrific sight: A human, wielding what could only be a giant spiked mace, which had spikes running down even the handle, and wearing little but tattered pants and a mask with a hood. The pants looked like leather, but made from what could only be human flesh. Trailing behind him were a couple short chains, one of which had a bloody skull stuck on it. On the human's right arm, there was a tattoo of the number "25".

The human laughed maniacally as he brought the weapon up again, swinging it at two of the four remaining humans. The head of the first one exploded, adding even more blood and gore to the walls, but some of it hit the maniac's mask, which seemed to only excite him further. The second one had his entire stomach region ripped off from the spine forward, causing some of his entrails to get stuck on the weapon. The sight of that made him laugh even more maniacally.

"We found Specimens 25 and 35." One of the soldiers said as he backed up. "But we'll need some back-"

Drag's sword flashed before the guy's upper half slid, showing his swing had cut clean through his spine. The last marine ran for his life, clearly terrified. Drag'lan then turned towards the guy who had swung the mace, who was clearly crazy.

"Blood, MUST HAVE MORE!" The maniac said as he swung the mace at Drag'lan's head. "YOUR BLOOD WILL DO!"

Drag'lan ducked under the blow.

"Not gonna happen." He said to the guy.

"OOOOHHH, FUN TIME!" The maniac said as he leaped at the wall, intentionally landing a boot in the blood before leaping at Drag'lan. This caught him unawares, meaning both of them slammed into the ground. His shortswords flew out of his grip.

As the pair slammed into the floor, the maniac brought the mace up, intent on smashing Drag'lan's head. As it came down, however, he brought the armored gauntlet up in defense, and the mace impacted hard. However, the armor of the gauntlet managed to hold up. It was severely dented, but no damage was dealt to Drag'lan's arm.

"My turn." Drag'lan said as he grabbed the mace and brought his head up, slamming into the guy's mask.

The headbutt sent the maniac reeling, his mask dented badly. This gave Drag'lan enough time to get up and draw Regoll.

"This is FUN!" the maniac said, trying to pull the same trick as before.

Drag'lan saw it coming this time, and his sword was already in motion, chopping is arms off, causing the mace to fall to the ground. The maniac fell to the ground not long after that. As Drag'lan approached, he laughed maniacally again.

"Blood, blood everywhere." He said, clearly too happy about him bleeding. "Such beauty…"

"Be at peace." Drag'lan said as he raised Regoll. "And may your ancestors have mercy on you."

He then swung the greatsword, bringing it down and decapitating him.

"Now to get the hell out of here." Drag'lan said as he sheathed Regoll and moved to retrieve his shortswords.


	31. Chapter 30

Chapter 30 – Rampaging Juggernaut

Drag'lan tore through what had to be the third group of marines he had found since he had gotten the armor suit. He was COVERED in blood at this point, multiple splatters caked onto his face and armor. The most recent layer showed flows over the previous layer.

By this point, he was in a purely psychotic rage, taking on ANY target that entered his vision. His eyes had long been solid black, and it felt like he was moving faster than his surroundings. That may have been true, though, as his adrenaline levels were WAY above normal.

The chest-piece of the armor was all but crimson at this point, with all the blood that had been sprayed over it. His swords were in the same shape, only the runes managing to show their true color, although it was hard to see, as the runes blazed crimson as well.

"Group 3 to command!" One of the marines managed to say as Drag'lan was tearing through their squadmates. "Subject 25 is in our sector. We need back-"

Drag'lan's roar cut them off as he brought his fist into their head, knocking multiple teeth out as well as shattering the point where their jaw met their skull. The marine fell to the ground, blood flowing heavily from their mouth Before they looked up to see Drag'lan's boot slam into their face, breaking their nose and breaking the front of their skull really well. They fell onto their back clutching at their head as Drag'lan's blade came down, slicing them clean through their torso at a diagonal angle. The cut was in such a way that both of the marine's forearms were severed as the blade came down.

His attention then fell on a scientist that was fleeing from a large bird like creature. The thing flew through Drag'lan's vision and he took off down the hallway after it. He didn't register the scream in the distance, since he was so focused on the bird creature.

The moment he turned the corner, he got blindsided by an immense force. He slammed into a wall and fell to the ground. When he got up, he saw a lumbering mass of gray staring directly at him, snarling.

With a roar, Drag'lan launched himself at the monster in front of him, great-sword held high. It roared as well as it started charging towards him. It slammed onto Drag'lan just as his sword came down, causing it to get lodged in the creature's skull. This caused some damage to the creature, but not enough to kill it, however.

The creature roared loudly as it slammed Drag'lan into the wall again, but this only gave him a decent brace. He instantly used this to his advantage, slamming his fist into the head of the beast, causing it to pull back, disoriented. He then grabbed his blade and pulled it out before spinning and bringing it down on the same spot where it had gotten lodged the first time, causing enough damage to slice into the brain, ending the creature's life.

Drag'lan pulled his blade out as he turned to resume his path, but couldn't recognize the area he was in. He did notice that he was in a different lab-type setting, however, and he saw a man just twitching while they were crouching. He were also just saying things that didn't make sense.

"The voices want out…." He said. "But they won't get out will they? No, no, no no no. They won't get out."

Then his voice abruptly changed, gaining a more guttural tone.

"Then we shall just BREAK out…" The person said. "And we'll have FUN…"

That's the moment when they noticed Drag and stood up quickly. The man was CLEARLY deranged, if their weapons and attire were any clue. They were wearing a very basic leather harness that seemed to be comprised of belts, pants and what looked like leather combat boots. Along their arms were more leather bands, only these ones had various home-made blades attached to them.

"Look, another toy we can play with." The person said as they cackled. "Maybe THIS one will last longer."

The figure then threw themselves at Drag'lan. Their arm blades flashed, and while he was able to block them, they bounced and slashed his face. If he felt any pain, it was impossible to tell. Blood flowed slowly from the wound, which ran from the left-hand corner of his mouth to his upwards, ending half-way towards the corner of his left eye.

"OOOOOOOHHHHH!" The guy said with a cackle as he spun around. "This one IS gonna last longer."

He flew towards Drag'lan gain, only this time, he was charging as well. At the last second, he side-stepped and held his blade out, causing their blades to get stuck into the greatsword and making the psycho slam into the ground on their back and ripping the blade from Drag'lan's grip.

Drag'lan then stood over the man and brought up his fist before slamming it into the side of their head repeatedly. He never stopped, even after they had stopped and the only form of movement was due to the impacts from his fists. His arms and face were covered in yet ANOTHER layer of blood, and by the time he was done, the man's head was all but gone.  
>Drag'lan stood up and retrieved his sword after he was done. He then started moving through the labs again. He took off down one corridor, just hoping for a fight.<br>Within seconds of him taking off, he was blind-sided again, only this time, it was by a yautja. They fell to the ground in a heap, but Drag'lan quickly threw the target off of him, but not before their wrist-blades had made a large gash on his forehead.

As Drag'lan got up, they were doing the same. Drag'lan's vision homed in on them and he extended Honorbringer before launching himself at them. Honorbringer flashed through the air, but impacted the yautja's wrist-blades. Drag'lan's other fist slammed into their midsection, but if the blow did any damage, it was ignored, as they slammed their fist into his head, sending him slamming into the wall for the second time. His head took the brunt of the impact, making his vision blurred slightly.

His vision quickly returned, however, as his adrenaline returned to its elevated levels.

He then whipped around and faced the yautja to see its wrist-blades coming down towards his face. He slid back and saw them come down on the section of wall where his head had just been, much to the confusion of the yautja. He was getting up when their foot slammed into his chest, sending him sprawling. He quickly regained his footing, and flew towards them as they charged towards him.

As he moved, he leaped at the wall and used it as a springboard to propel him towards the yautja even faster. He slammed into their chest with enough force to crack a number of ribs, and the pair slammed into the ground, with Drag'lan having the advantage. He immediately got a punch off before they brought their fist into his side, knocking him off of them.

The fight became a down-and-dirty brawl, with both sides landing significant blows on the other. Drag'lan was acquiring multiple lacerations and bruises, but his rage mode kept him going, not noticing the pain. The yautja, on the other hand, was starting to show weariness and fatigue as the fight pressed on.

Things really slid in Drag'lan's favor when he managed to break the yautja's wrist-blade arm. As it dangled limply at their side, they swung at Drag'lan again, but Drag'lan ducked under it and slammed his fist into the side of their head, knocking teeth loose and breaking a mandible. Their head slammed into the wall and Drag'lan pressed his advantage, kicking them in the midsection before slamming a fist into their side, flooring them. He then flipped them over and started hitting their head multiple times.

Once the beating was done, he stood up and grabbed them by the arm before hurling them into the other wall, forming a three-foot deep indentation before the body fell. Drag'lan, breathing heavily at this point, retracted Honorbringer. As he looked at his opponent, his vision abruptly shifted.

He was now in a large desert-like environment, and he was standing over the body of his enemy, which was bloody and broken. Their blood was caked onto his fists, and there was a sense of pride and triumph in his heart as he raised a fist to the sky.

His vision then snapped back to the present. He shook his head as the scene remained imprinted in his vision. No matter what he did, he couldn't shake the image. It remained burned in his mind.

As he backed up, shaking his head, he became aware of two more figures approaching. He waited until they were right behind him before he swung around, lashing out at them, even though they were allies.

~

Eleven hours earlier…

~

S'loss and Zel'no'di arrived at they're destination: the lab complex that the signal transmitted from Drag'lan's armor was.

"What would he be doing here?" Zel'no'di asked.

"The only explanation is that he was taken captive by the humans." S'loss replied. "We need to find him. It would not do well for him to not return to his clan."

"Alright. Let's see if we can find him." Zel'no'di said with a nod.

With that, the duo took off into the lab complex, intent on finding Drag'lan and making sure he returned home. They also split up to cover more ground quicker.

It wasn't even an hour into the search before the alarms went off, and the intercom was filled with yelling about how one of the subjects broke free and for the guards to remain on high alert.

"That can only mean whoever captured Drag'lan had no idea what they were getting into."  
>Zel'no'di said through the comm. Channel he and S'loss were using. "And from what I've seen of his abilities, this can't end well for the humans."<p>

"Agreed." S'loss replied. "Drag'lan can get downright brutal."

"From what I've seen, I don't doubt it." Zel'no'di said. "But we better hurry."

The duo sped up their search, but the sheer size of the lab made the search last much longer than was expected. They also came across many humans that were experiencing severe mental problems. They fell to the experienced warriors, but the duo couldn't help but be a bit shaken by the state of their opponents.

"What the hell are the humans doing in this place?" Zel'no'di said to himself as he stepped over the body of his most recent fight, a human that was hearing voices that he attributed to Zel'no'di talking to him in his head, and didn't like them. "This is just sick."

Then he came across a lab that had something that piqued his interest to no ends; in it, there was Drag'lan's armor, with the gauntlet holding the computer and his helmet set aside. Beside them lay his plasmacaster.

"Might as well take this." He said as he removed the armor and weapon. "Can't let the humans get their hands on too much of our tech."

He stored the gear in a nearby locker, out of the way of the marines. He just hoped that the homing beacon was still transmitting, After the gear was stored, he returned to the search.

It took the duo ten more hours to finally find Drag'lan. S'loss was the first one to see the signs; a trail of bodies that had a large variety of wounds that had killed them. Some were killed from wounds that could be attributed to swords, others with wounds consistent with being pummeled by someone's bare fists.

"I think I found some clues as to where Drag'lan is." He said to Zel'no'di. "But since I don't know whether this leads to Drag'lan, I'll follow it to make sure."

"Alright. But be careful." Ze'no'di replied.

S'loss followed the bodies, encountering marines, scientists, animals here and there. He even caught a couple of the insane people here and there. Their wounds were mix and match of blunt force trauma and blade wounds.

"Looks like the work of Drag'lan, but I'm not fully sure." S'loss said to himself as he followed the trail of bodies.

As he started to reach the end of the trail, he caught sight of a very disconcerting turn of events; Intermixed with the red blood was a faint glow of fluorescent green.

"That can't be good." He said.

"I know." Zel'no'di said as he came out of a corridor. "I caught something like that on my search, but I didn't think too much of it, because this place is full of humans."

"Indeed." S'loss replied. "But I suggest caution when we come across Drag'lan. He probably doesn't know who's an ally or an enemy."

"Makes sense." Zel'no'di responded.

The duo then saw where the path led: A figure over a yautja, hitting them in the head.  
>Then the figure stood up and stumbled back, shaking their head.<p>

As the pair was approaching the figure, they righted themselves. Once Zel'no'di and  
>S'loss got close, the figure spun around and engaged them, but the face of the figure was what truly shocked the duo; It was Drag'lan's, although it was covered in blood and his eyes were solid black.<p>

His initial assault caught both of them off guard. His fist hammered into S'loss's side, winding him and knocking him into the Zel'no'di. They both slammed into the wall, but while they wre getting up, Drag'lan was making a follow-up assault.

~

His first target was much larger than he was, but he didn't care. His mind tagged them as a threat, and he was treating them as such. His fist slammed into their side, making them collide with their partner before the crashed into the wall and hit the floor.

As they were getting up, he was already moving again. This time, once one had gotten their footing back, his boot came up, hitting them in the stomach like a freight train, knocking them onto their back. He would have gone after them more, but the second yautja's fist slammed into his head, sending him sprawling.

~

Zel'no'di may have been caught off guard when Drag'lan initially attacked, but the advantage didn't last long, because it was clear that Drag'lan, for whatever reason, saw him and S'loss as threats. Once Drag'lan's attention shifted to S'loss, Zel'no'di took his opportunity to get to his feet. Before he was able to do anything, Dra'glan had kicked S'loss in the stomach. This only infuriated Zel'no'di, because S'loss was a close friend. He hit Drag'lan in the head hard, sending him sprawling, giving S'loss precious seconds to recover.

Zel'no'di then felt a large amount of force slam into hi side, sending him to the floor, with Drag'lan's fist coming down onto the metal plate next to him, denting the metal. Drag'lan, undaunted, brought his fist up, but as he was bringing it down, Zel'no'di grabbed his fist and brought his own into Drag'lan's jaw, knocking him back.

~

Drag'lan wasn't down for long, and once he was back up, he was already re-engaging his no target, the yautja that had punched him. He tackled them to the ground and brought his fist down, but their head jerked to the side, meaning he only hit the metal. That was inconsequential, however, as he brought his fist up and as he was starting to bring it down, they grabbed his fist, stopping the blow before throwing one htat knocked him onto his back. He immediately sprang back to his feet, only to be knocked forward by his initial target kicking him in the back.

He flipped over to see their fist crashing down towards his face, but he rolled to the side before springing back to his feet and tackling them to the ground. His fist slammed into their arm, and he knew he heard a crack before his other target tackled him off his initial target.

He drove his elbow back, managing to hit metal, and the attacker recoiled. He stood up and was just turning around when his body just shut down, collapsing to the floor.

~

S'loss felt a couple bones crack in his left armwhen Drag'lan hit him, but he then saw Zel'no'di tackle Drag'lan.

He was just getting up to re-engage Drag'lan when he saw him just collapse. S'loos avoided him, instead heading to check on Zel'no'di.

"You alright?" He asked.

"I think so." Zel'no'di said as he got up. "But what was the matter with him?"

"I have no idea." S'loss replied. "I think this place got to him, though."

"Agreed." Zel'no'di said with a nod. "But grab his swords. I'll get him. We'll meet back at the ship."

"Alright." S'loss said as he walked towards Drag'lan's great-swords, which had gotten tossed from their sheaths during the brawl.

As he picked them up, he noted that they had a very decent weight to them.

"I'm moderately impressed that Drag'lan can wield this with such skill." S'loss said.

"These would be next to impossible for more than a few people to wield, much less dual-wield."

He held them as he saw Zel'no'di pick up Drag'lan.

"How this guy is alive is beyond me." Zel'no'di told S'loss.

"What do you mean?" S'loss asked.

"His pulse is rapid. I doubt anybody could have a pulse this fast and not have their blood vessels explode." Zel'no'di said. "I suggest we get him to the med bay quickly."

"I agree." S'loss said as the pair left, heading to the ship.

~

Drag'lan was out cold, his body having shut down. However, what he saw during his time out, he wouldn't be able to explain, because he couldn't understand.

**Author's Note: I'm having Drag'lan be in a variation of a coma. He's going to be seeing events of his ancestors through their eyes (i.e. he'll feel like he's there.). So I would REALLY appreciate ideas on events I could have him see. Also, S'loss and Zel'no'di don't belong to me. They belong to friends mine on Deviantart. Their owners are Drakhand006 and Zelnodi, respectively.**


	32. Chapter 31

Chapter 31 – Visions of your Ancients

S'loss and Zel'no'di were just arriving at Lai'Kairis, and Drag'lan was still in his coma. His heart rate hadn't lowered in the slightest since the duo had taken him from the lab complex. They walked down the ramp of their ship, Drag'lan on a stretcher between them.

They were met by Fral and her family almost immediately. When she saw Drag'lan, Fral'drylx's eyes grew wide.

"Calm yourself." Zel'no'di said. "He is not dead. However, it is a surprise he is alive."

"WHAT?!" Fral asked, her eyes clearly showing that she was dismayed.

"His heart-rate is off the charts and his blood pressure is just as high." Zel'no'di said. "I will tell you the story once we get him to the medical area for attention to see how his body is faring."

"I don't understand." Fral said, her eyes starting to tear up.

Her dad took her into his arms, before she started to sob quietly. He then looked at Zel'no'di and S'loss.

"Lead the way." He said, although he was clearly shaken. "I'll calm her as best as I can."

"Very well." Zel'no'di said, walking towards the Medical area.

~

In the Infirmary

~

"So, when we came across him, he simply turned and attacked us." Zel'no'di said. "I'm guessing he couldn't see anything as friend, just as foe."

"He can get like that." Fral said quietly, somewhat calmed down from before. "I've seen what he can do when enraged."

"He was able to take on both S'loss and I at once, however." Zel'no'di said. "Taking on one of us alone would be a feat of strength, even for one such as him."

"He was able to snap the neck of a queen Khainde Amehda and rip her head off with his bare hands once." Fral said, her voice still quiet.

"I don't doubt it." Zel'no'di said. "But anyway, while he was in combat with us, he just collapsed. When I checked his pulse, it was through the roof. I don't think it has lessened even a bit on the way here."

"It hasn't." The doctor said as they walked in. "He's an odd case. He has a vastly increased heartrate, but he's in a coma, and we're detecting signs of dreaming."

"I wonder what could be running through his head right now." Fral said.

"Don't we all?" Zel'no'di asked.

~

Meanwhile, In Drag's mind…

~

He stood among his fellow warriors, watching them rile themselves up for the upcoming fight, not that they needed that anyway. Behind them was the dual wall of the Guardians, in their normal formation, with the rear ones having smaller shields in order to allow the Brutes to leap over the taller wall in front.

"Alright." He said, his voice booming across the field of warriors. "Our time has come! We shall instill fear and dismay in our enemies. We have waited for years for this day, and now it is time for us to do what we do best: BRUTALIZE!"

Cheer erupted from the field of warriors. While members of his house were among them, there were too many others to make the members of his house out.

He saw as they raised their various weapons. In the back, he even saw the giant of his house: Kerlasheent. He was chained up and guarded for the time being, but he knew that on the command, the giant would be unleashed against the enemies.

It wasn't long after he had finished his cry when the horns signifying the charge were blown. Without a second thought, he whipped around and roared as he charged up the rear wall of Guardians and leaped cleanly over the front wall. His boots slammed into the ground and his eyes locked onto his target, the line of soldiers hundreds of feet in front of him. With a loud battlecry, he took off towards their line, his greatswords in his hands. He heard his comrades doing the same, but didn't care; He had his targets, as did they. All they had to do was meet the lines and break the enemies' spirits.

He didn't register the rounds coming at him, several of them being deflected by his armor's projection field. A number of them got through, but of the ones that managed o get through his armor, none registered as painful. He was a Brute after all, and once they got going and riled up, they didn't register pain at all.

It wasn't long until he crashed into the front lines of his enemies. His greatswords came down several times, and wherever they were swung, blood sprayed. He danced through the lines, cleaving several into pieces before it finally sank in that someone had broken the lines. Cries from up and down the lines told him that his brethren were also successful, but he didn't have time for that. All that mattered was the enemies in front of him.

Enemy after enemy fell before him, and by the time the enemy lines had broken and were fleeing, the Guardians had caught up to the Brutes. He looked to his left and right, and saw Brute after Brute standing, many of them bleeding.

He heard roars from in front of him and saw several more enemies barreling towards the lines. He heard himself and others roar as they charged head-long at the incoming enemy lines. Once the two lines met, the slaughter began anew. He flew through their lines, murdering countless numbers of them alongside his brethren.

He didn't know how long things had taken, but he was covered in the brown blood of his enemies by the time the dust settled. He just stood there, holding his glowing and bloody weapons, as the sounds of marching grew closer behind him.

After that happened, his vision faded to black.

~

The next thing he knew, he was behind a gate in a large coliseum, listening to the crowd cheer loudly and was just pleased with himself for making it this far.

"And behind the other gate, we have Kretallish, THE QUAKE BUTCHER!" The announcer said as the gate in front of him opened.

As he entered the arena, the applause grew, and he heard them chanting his name. He roared loudly in response and raised his arms, showing the shockwave emitter gauntlets that he had chosen as his weapons for the tournament. Although he had shocked his house with his choice of weapons, he wanted the most devastating weapon he could find.

All of a sudden, he caught one of them cheering for a demonstration, and he smirked as he heard the familiar hum of his gauntlets charging. Once they beeped to signify that they were fully charged, he brought both fists to the ground, the emitters unleashing their charge of energy into the ground, causing the arena to rumble as well as sending large plumes of dirt and sand into the air. If the crowd was cheering loudly before, that attitude grew three times over.

"Two lords of the arena have met." The Announcer roared, somehow being heard above the roars and cheers of the audience. "But only one may claim the title of victor. FIGHT!"

His attention fell to his opponent, who was charging directly at him. A standard move, but a simple one, all the same. Nevertheless, his enemy made a mistake in that action, and it was a mistake that he was more than willing to take advantage of. His gauntlets were still charging, meaning he was limited to his strength and wits.

Just as his opponent drew close, he simply brought his knee up, slamming it into their stomach, briefly winding them. As they tried to recover their breath, he grabbed them by the arm and threw them into the arena wall.

They quickly recovered, but he was already on them. He swept their feet from under them and grabbed them by the leg and spun around before hurling them across the arena. They got to their feet, skidding through the sand, and threw themselves at him.

He met them head-long. His arm slammed into their midsection, bowling them over. He couldn't repress a smirk as he saw them him the ground.

"Come on." He said as he watched them get up. "Surely you can do better to honor your house."

His opponent roared and blurred into action, swinging one of the dual axes they wielded. He just shook his head as he nonchalantly blocked the swing with one of his gauntlets. It showed a significant charge, so he slammed his fist into their midsection, activating the gauntlet and sending them flying.

As his opponent got back up, they were shaky, and he couldn't blame them. The shockwave emitter gauntlets caused large amounts of nonlethal kinetic damage to the target, even at the charge he activated it at. However, he felt it was about time to end the fight, and his gaunlet seemingly agreed, as it beeped, showing that it had a full charge.

Before his opponent could recover, he slammed his charged gauntlet into their stomach, knocking the remaining breath from them and sending them flying back into a wall, knocking them clean out.

"And the standing winner, for the last TEN Arena Tournaments is HOUSE HELLANILLE!" The announcer yelled as cheers from the crowd rose.

Without a second thought, however, he moved back to his former opponent and assisted the medical staff as they took him the medical wing. He owed his opponent that much. They expended a LOT of energy and effort to just make it to the finals. The least he could do is respect that.

~

Back in the medical room

~

A sudden jerk of Drag's limbs caught the attention of all that were in there. S'loss and Zel'no'di had already left, being needed elsewhere, and upon the sudden movement, Fral immediately called for the doctor.

"We all saw him jerk his arms." She explained.

"That's unheard of for those in a coma…" The doctor replied. "But then, most of the things in this case don't fully add up…"

"I know, and I'm sorry for bothering you, but I'm just wondering what's wrong with him." Fral said.

"I understand." The doctor said. "I don't see why you would care about him, though."

"He's my mate." Fral said.

"WHAT?!" The Doctor all but yelled.

The anger that started emanating from Fral at that point was almost palpable.

"He is my mate." She growled. "And I SHOULD knock you out for that insult, but I know that he needs medical help."

The doctor did a double-take after Fral's reply. He clearly didn't expect THAT being said to him. Once she saw the effect her reply hadm her tone and demeanor softened considerably.

"My apologies." She said. "I'm just-"

"No." The doctor said, cutting her off. "I understand. While I may not be totally accepting of your choice of a mate, I shouldn't have said what I said."

With that hanging in the air, the doctor went about looking over Drag'lan. He did a quick scan of Drag'lan's brainwaves before reading the results.

"It seems to have been a reaction to one of his dreams…" The doctor said. "But I still don't understand what's going on with him. This isn't an ordinary coma."

"I know…" Fral said. "I just hope he comes out of it alright…"

**Author's Note: Sorry about the LONG gap between the posting of ch30 and ch31. TOTALLY forgot this site existed lol. in any case, Lone Wolf will be wrapping up here soon, probly in the next chapter or two.**


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